The War of Independence
by Ny Batteri
Summary: An ancient artifact that could cause a huge outbreak of war in Tamriel. An Imperial dissident, banished from the Empire. A secretive general and a Morag Tong assassin. A wayward mystic and her guardian. And a race to find the artifact and reshape Tamriel.
1. Three Heroes

**The War of Independence**

**Chapter 1 – Three Heroes**

"Each event is preceded by prophecy. But without an event, there can be no prophecy" – Nibani Maesa

"He who acts on instinct, without thinking, will find more good comes to him than if he should procrastinate" – Tamrielic proverb

"All men shall be sailors until the sea shall set them free" – Leonard Cohen

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_3E325, Last Seed 3, Imperial City prison_

Camri opened his eyes. He was lying awkwardly on a worn, thin mattress, his joints aching from the uncomfortable night's sleep. It was the same way every day had started for as long as he could remember. He wasn't even sure it was daytime. The only indication he had of the passage of time was a sliver of sunlight that shone through a tiny window in the cell opposite him. He stood up and shambled towards the bars at the front of his cell, looking around. Diagonally opposite him, J'Kazar, the Khajiit, was sleeping fitfully. He could hear the Imperial woman they'd brought in last night breathing heavily in the cell next to him as she slept.

On the floor beyond his cell was a plate, housing a piece of bread and some cured meat. Camri retrieved the food, and the tankard of water next to it, and retreated back into his cell.

Camri heard footsteps, heavy bootfalls on the stone floor. It was the warden, doing the morning patrol.

"Up early, Everlight" the warden said, peering into Camri's cell.

"Looks like it" Camri replied nonchalantly. The warden turned round, looking into the cell opposite Camri. It was a room steeped in legend – the cell through which Emperor Uriel Septim and the prisoner who would eventually become Champion of Cyrodiil escaped from the Mythic Dawn assassins.

"Strange" the warden said, "How a place so holy and revered should be located in a building full of criminal scum"

"Criminal scum? You're so charming" Camri spat. "I still haven't been told exactly why I was sentenced to prison"

"You're an enemy of the state, Everlight" the warden said. "This is the best place for you"

Suddenly, the warden reeled in shock as a projectile struck him in the neck. It was a small dart, and it seemed to have come through the tunnel leading out of the cell opposite Camri's. The warden simply froze where he was stood – paralysed by a poisoned dart.

A figure ran out of the tunnel, an Argonian in a black robe. He had a dagger in a hilt on his belt, along with several other poisoned darts. The Argonian looked at Camri.

"Camri Everlight?"

"And what if I am?" Camri retorted.

"Well, I'm here to break out someone by the name of Camri Everlight" the Argonian replied. "And with respect, we've got about 30 seconds before that poison wears off"

The Argonian pulled a bunch of keys from the warden's belt and, running over to Camri's cell, unlocked it and threw the gate open.

"Come on!"

Without thinking, Camri followed the Argonian back into the tunnel, down into the Imperial subterranae.

The Argonian ran down the narrow tunnel, seeing by a dim light from a spell he had cast. Camri followed a short distance behind him. Rounding a corner into an open cavern, the Argonian stopped and motioned Camri to do the same.

"We should be safe here for a while" the Argonian said. "I'm Areen, by the way"

"Thanks for this, Areen" Camri said. "So, what exactly is going on?"

"I'm not sure yet, but my people need you" Areen said.

"Why? What have I done that's so special?"

"You seem to think you're nothing more than a rebel without a cause" Areen said. "But having been banished from almost every city in Cyrodiil you've had to survive out in the wilderness. You're an accomplished swordsman and marksman, an armourer, an expert navigator and you're able to make basic potions out of almost anything. You can adapt to any situation, Camri. Plus, you have a deep hatred towards the Empire. And that's why my people need you. That's all I know"

"Your people?" Camri asked. "You keep saying that. Who are you working for?"

"I'm not working for anyone" Areen said. "By 'My people' I mean the nation of Argonia"

--------------

_The Tiber Septim Hotel, the previous evening_

The Dunmer strode up to the barmaid in the lavish inn.

"I'm looking for General Seminus" he said. "Delivery from Morrowind"

With that, the Dunmer drew an ebony sword, forged by a master smith in the Morrowind capital of Mournhold, with the letters A.K.S. engraved at the base of the blade – Anvius Kaman Seminus. As a simple means of deepening a cover story, it had cost a lot of money to produce and was a weapon of insurpassable quality. The Dunmer hoped he could persuade Seminus to keep it for himself.

"Oh yes, he's expecting you" the barmaid said. "Go up to his room. First door on the left"

-------------

Seminus heard a knock on his door.

"Who's there?"

"_General Seminus? I come from Morrowind. I have your sword"_

Seminus got up and walked over to the door. One hand on the sword on his belt, he opened it.

"Falas Assurrani, I presume?" Seminus said quietly, looking at the Dunmer.

"You presumed correctly" Assurrani said. Seminus motioned him into the door.

"I've heard many good things about you" Seminus said to the Dunmer. "One of the most respected and highest-ranking Morag Tong agents in Tamriel"

"I don't like to brag" Assurrani said. "Now, what are my orders?"

Seminus handed a small scroll to Assurrani.

"This is an unconditional writ. Guard it with your life" Seminus said. "It is effectively a license to kill. Do not abuse it or I will remove it from you. You'll be working with me, on a matter of grave international importance. Your orders are to get rid of anyone who gets in the way. First, there's something you can help me with. Go to the Guild of Mages in Cheydinhal, and find Eliarie. She's an Altmer researcher there. Get me her notes on The Marsh Spirit. Be as… persuasive as you want"

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_Wayrest, High Rock_

"They're here!" Ariel exclaimed suddenly, getting up and pacing nervously up and down the room.

"Who?" Horunn asked, putting a hand on her shoulder to try and calm her down.

"Soldiers, sent from Cyrodiil! They've just entered the town!"

Horunn drew his sword and raced towards the front door of Ariel's house. Opening it and peering out, he could see the Breton townsfolk fleeing in terror as ten soldiers, heavily armed and armoured, burst through the city gate and began charging down the high street of the small town.

"Right, let's go!" Horunn ordered. "Stay close!"

Horunn raced out of the house, Ariel following a short distance behind him. They ducked into an alleyway which led perpendicular to the high street, towards the edge of the town.

"Why are they here? Who are they looking for?" Horunn whispered.

"Me, but I don't know why" Ariel replied. "I need time to think"

"We don't have time" Horunn said urgently. "We've got to get out of here!"

"Behind you!" Ariel cried. Horunn spun round just in time to throw up his sword and block a mace being swung at him by one of the Cyrodiilic soldiers. As the soldier recoiled from shock, Horunn kicked him in the groin, knocking him to the ground, then leapt forward and plunged his sword into the gap between the soldier's helmet and cuirass, severing his spinal column. The soldier lay motionless, lifeless, on the ground.

"Let's go!" Horunn shouted, grabbing Ariel's arm and leading her down the alleyway. "I need you to tell me where they are!"

"They're all still on the high street" Ariel said. "Head for the gate down the back streets. We should be able to avoid them"

Horunn, a hardy Nord warrior, had one purpose in life – to make sure no harm came to Ariel. Ariel Lasaille was a young Breton, no more than eighteen years old, with remarkable thinking power and an unmatched grasp on the mystic arts. She could deduce why anything happened with no necessary research or evidence, and to an extent, could predict events that had not yet come to pass. And this made her a target – the Guild of Mages wanted her. The government of High Rock wanted her. The Empire wanted her. And less reputable organisations, such as the Dark Brotherhood and the Morag Tong, also wanted her. This was why her father had entrusted Horunn to look after her – he wanted her to remain free.

Horunn raced down the sidestreet which ran parallel to the high street, Ariel behind him, constantly looking around. Through the buildings, Ariel could see countless patches of a purple glow. Those moving quickly posed a threat – they were the soldiers.

"Horunn, there's two of them by the gate!" Ariel said. Horunn reached the end of the street and peered around the corner. Twenty metres away, down another alleyway, was the gate that led towards the border with Hammerfell. But two of the soldiers guarded it, standing over the dead bodies of two Imperial guards.

"Wait, Horunn!" Ariel said, grabbing Horunn's shoulder. She cautiously stepped in front of him. The wooden town gate was lying on the street, broken into several pieces where the soldiers had broken it down with their battering ram.

Ariel held up her hands, then slowly moved her two index fingers up. All of a sudden, the largest shard of the gate rose up off the ground, as though it were being lifted. As soon as it had done so, Ariel flicked her hands to the side and the huge shard of wood flew sideways at stunning speed, decapitating the two soldiers.

"Run!" Horunn shouted. He raced down the alleyway towards the town gate, Ariel following him. Turning right, he leapt through the gate and off the bridge that it led onto, landing on the banks of the river that passed the eastern side of the town. Holding Ariel by the arm, he ran under the bridge and ducked into cover.

"Did you notice their armour?" Ariel whispered. "And their weapons?"

"Well, the one that attacked us was carrying a steel mace and wearing Nordic chainmail armour. The two soldiers by the gate were both in steel armour. One was carrying an axe, the other a sword"

"They all had different equipment" Ariel said. "If they were soldiers of a government or of the Empire they would all have the same equipment. They're mercenaries"

"So someone is after you again" Horunn said. "Where can we escape to?"

"We are near the Hammerfell border. We can hide in the forests of Hammerfell"

The pair heard heavy bootfalls on the wooden bridge above them.

"_They're under the bridge!" _The voice of one of the mercenaries.

"How many?" Horunn whispered.

"Three" Ariel replied, looking behind her.

"Stay here" Horunn ordered. He leapt out of cover and clambered up the bank, jumping onto the bridge. In one swift movement he drew his sword and swung it horizontally, hewing the head of one of the mercenaries clean from his body. Turning to the side, he used his sword to block a swordstroke from another mercenary, forcing the mercenary's arm downwards then punching the mercenary square in the jaw. As the mercenary recoiled in shock, Horunn thrust his sword upwards, gruesomely slicing through the mercenary's nose and sinking into his brain.

The third mercenary charged at him with a warhammer. At the last second, Horunn leapt to the side, trailing his leg behind him. The mercenary, carried on by the momentum of his heavy armour and enormous weapon, could not stop and tripped over Horunn's ankle, tumbling off the bridge and plunging down into the river with an enormous splash. Horunn scrambled down the bank and leapt at the mercenary, grabbing him by the helmet and twisting until the mercenary's neck snapped.

Horunn climbed back up to Ariel and crouched down next to her.

"We're safe. Come on, let's go while we have the chance"

--------------

_Veyond Cave, north of Bravil_

Areen led Camri into the dark, damp cave. Soon they reached a small pool of water, which an elderly Argonian woman was knelt down next to, drinking.

"Sudana" Areen called. "I've found him"

Sudana stood up and walked over to the pair, looking up and down at Camri.

"Camri Everlight" Sudana said. "I am Sudana, a scholar. You must understand that you are in no danger here"

"Why am I here?" Camri asked. "Why have the people of Argonia decided to break me out of prison? What do you need me for?"

"What we need you for is not entirely clear yet, but you must trust me that it is a very important matter. A matter that we do not yet know the true nature of.

"It concerns the south-eastern part of Tamriel – Black Marsh, Elsweyr and southern Cyrodiil. Many years ago, Bravil was the southernmost point of eastern Cyrodiil. Beyond that lay Elsweyr and Argonia, the Niben marking their border. Leyawiin didn't even exist. Then the Emperor initiated a huge military campaign to capture the Nibenay basin for Cyrodiil. He wanted control of the Niben as a shipping lane to the Imperial City.

"The Argonians were developing something that they called The Marsh Spirit. It was a very secretive project. Legend has it that that two scholars were within days of being able to use The Marsh Spirit to end the war and reclaim their land. They were killed by Imperial assassins, but the Marsh Spirit, or its identity, were never found. Leyawiin was built, first as a military stronghold, then as a city. And that was it, until recently. Wheels are being set in motion. The Argonians are looking for the Marsh Spirit, so that we and the Khajiit of Elsweyr can take back our lands.

"First though, Camri, I need proof that you are as skilled a warrior as I have been told. So, I have a little task for you and Areen.

"East of here is an Ayleid ruin, the ancient temple of Morahame. It was used as a repository of knowledge right up until the Ayleids fell. There's a book believed to be in there entitled The Fall of the Niben"

"You want us to find it?" Camri said dubiously.

Sudana drew a sword from her belt and handed it to Camri.

"Take this sword. If you bring me the book, it's yours to keep"

Camri examined the sword. It was steel plated with silver, a very well-constructed weapon. He swung it around, slashing at air. It was light and manoeuvrable.

"This is a very good blade" Camri said. "You really want my help, don't you?"


	2. Camri Everlight

**Chapter 2 – Camri Everlight**

_East of Bravil, the next morning_

Areen and Camri climbed out of the small boat they had used to cross the Niben – Bravil happened to be situated next to one of the widest parts of the river so swimming had not been an option.

Camri studied the map Sudana had given him. "We need to bear east for about three miles"

"Alright" Areen said. "This is bandit country, so keep your eyes peeled"

"I'm on it"

"Just make sure you keep an eye on where you're going. Bad directions can really sabotage an attempt to save the world"

"What do you mean?"

"Haven't you read the accounts of the Nerevarine of Vvardenfell? In his attempts to win the favour of the Zainab tribe he was sent to an ancestral tomb to dispatch a vampire. The Ashkhan gave him very simple directions – head north until the ruins of Nchuleft then bear east. What the Ashkhan didn't tell him was that he had to go another mile or so north of Nchuleft before he started bearing east. He was lost in the Grazelands for almost a week"

"Bandits!" Camri shouted suddenly, pointing in front of them. From a small campsite concealed in the undergrowth, two Bosmer were running towards them, one carrying an axe and one carrying a bow.

"Camri, I can't fight well in the open!" Areen cried.

"That's alright, stay behind me!"

Camri nocked an arrow into his bow, drew and took aim. The Bosmer archer fired an arrow at him, but he leapt to the side and it flew past him, slamming into a tree and piercing several inches into it. Camri released his own arrow and it sailed through the air, hitting the Bosmer in the neck and piercing his jugular vein.

Camri cast his bow to the ground and drew his sword, the silver longsword Sudana had given him, and ran to face the other bandit. The bandit swung his axe horizontally at Camri, but Camri ducked and felt the weapon fly over his head, missing him by inches. Leaping up, he plunged his sword into the bandit's chest, ripping through his chainmail armour and killing him instantly.

Camri looked around. Areen was alright.

"What happened to the other one? Did you see?" Camri asked him.

"He's dead" Areen replied. "Must be from blood loss"

"Alright, we should have a rest" Camri said. "Only for a few minutes though. The fate of Argonia's not going to hang around"

"That's the spirit!"

--------------

_Somewhere north of Skingrad, ten years earlier_

The cavern was a remarkable find. Camri and Elers had found it purely by chance. They'd practiced their archery by hunting rats in the cave and were leaving it when Elers tripped over a rock which turned out to be a trigger stone, opening a secret door into a small room, filled with ancient scrolls and books. Almost all of it was written in the Daedric alphabet, which neither of them could understand. But one was written in the Tamrielic language.

"Bollocks" Elers said, dropping the scroll to the ground. "An Elder Scroll, I might believe, but not a little old bit of paper we found in a cave. It doesn't even look that old. Look, the ink hasn't faded at all"

"It's still interesting though" Camri said. "This prophecy. Three heroes, accompanied by guardians who work for the Gods, brought together through an enormous event to take on something even bigger"

"It's probably some mad author who used to live down here" Elers said. "Remember that skeleton we saw? Probably starved to death, or caught something off the rats"

"Why's it all written in Daedric, then?"

"Like I say, he was probably mad"

"We should still take some of it with us" Camri said. "The Mages Guild will probably pay us for it"

"Now you're speaking my language!" Elers said, picking up armfuls of the ancient scrolls.

"_Camri!"_a voice suddenly called from somewhere in the cavern. _"Come on, lad. I know you're in here!"_

"Shit, it's my father!" Camri whispered. "How did he follow us? You asked a guard for directions to this cave, didn't you?"

"Camri!" A middle-aged Imperial man strode up to them out of the darkness. Rucius Everlight was one of the highest-ranking guards in Skingrad, and was not happy about having to leave his post to find his son.

"What in the name of the Nine are you doing in here?" Rucius said angrily.

"We've just been practicing our archery!" Camri retorted. "Didn't you notice all the dead rats?"

"That's what the damn archery range behind the Fighters' Guild is for!" Rucius shouted. "I've worked all my life to get this position in the Guard and now I have to risk it to chase after a boy who runs off into the back-country with no idea of how to defend himself! And what's this you've found here?"

"Ancient Daedric texts" Elers said.

"We're going to sell them to the Guild of Mages" Camri added. "And perhaps if you take back that comment about me not being able to defend myself I'll give you a cut of the money we make"

Rucius paused. "Elers, would you give us a minute?"

Camri nodded to his friend. Elers turned around and began to walk towards the exit of the cavern.

"I'll come and find you later!" Camri called after him.

"So, son" Rucius said. "You can defend yourself, can you?"

Before Camri could react, Rucius struck him around the head with the handle of his sword, knocking him to the ground in a daze, before dragging him out of the small room back into the main cavern. Rucius strode up to the pile of ancient papers and dropped his torch on them.

"Necromancy, that's what this is" Rucius said to himself.

"No!" Camri cried, shakily getting to his feet. But it was too late. The old, dry papers had burnt in an instant. Nothing was left.

Camri strode up to Rucius and squared up to him.

"You've gone too far this time!"

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_Cheydinhal, Guild of Mages, the present day_

Assurrani walked into the Guildhall and an elderly Dunmer approached him.

"Can I help you, sera?"

"I am looking for Eliarie" Assurrani said. "I come on behalf of the Bravil guildhall. I believe she has some notes for us about our ongoing project on integrating the arts of Alteration and Illusion"

"Most interesting, sera" the Dunmer said. "She's in the basement, in her study"

Walking down to the basement, Assurrani took the scroll – the unconditional writ – from his pocket. He hadn't actually read it yet, and decided now would be a good time to.

_Assurrani,_

_I'm afraid I haven't been entirely honest with you. This is not an unconditional writ. It is not any form of writ. If you perform this task for me, the writ is yours. But first I need to be able to know you are as talented as your master suggests. I'm afraid you're on your own for this one._

_Seminus_

"Damn that n'wah!" Assurrani whispered to himself. This simple task had just got a lot more difficult.

Assurrani walked through the open doorway into the basement. A woman was sitting at a desk, reading, her back turned to him. He had to plan how to escape should he have to kill Eliarie. Invisibility and its proper use were Assurrani's preferred method of escape. Casting the invisibility spell, one of the hardest aspects of illusion, was one thing, but then one had to act in such a way as not to break the illusion.

Looking around, Assurrani saw a small window at the top of the room, left open to let air into the basement from outside. If he could climb up to it, he could crawl out onto the alleyway behind the guildhall. It was perfect.

"Excuse me, are you Eliarie?" Assurrani asked. The Altmer woman leapt up from her seat.

"By the Gods, you startled me!" Eliarie said. "Yes, I'm Eliarie. What can I do for you?"

"I have been sent by General Seminus of the Imperial Guard" Assurrani said. "He says you have some research material on something called The Marsh Spirit"

"Well, tell General Seminus he can't have them" Eliarie replied flatly. "He needs an official permit signed by the Arch-Mage to take research material from a Guild member"

"Let's try this another way" Assurrani said, drawing his ebony shortsword from his belt. "Give me the notes or I will kill you"

"We can play it that way if you like" Eliarie said. Suddenly, she raised her hands and cast a fireball at Assurrani. Assurrani leapt to the ground, feeling the burst of fire soar over his head, then landed in a forward roll and jumped to his feet. Eliarie summoned a sword from the realms of the Daedra but it was in vain – Assurrani lunged forward and plunged his sword through Eliarie's chest. The life faded quickly from the Altmer's eyes as Assurrani drew his sword from her.

"_Eliarie! Are you alright?"_

A voice came echoing down the staircase that led back up to the guildhall. Assurrani looked around quickly, setting eyes on a pile of papers on Eliarie's desk. They were tired together with string, with the words "Marsh Spirit" written in large letters on the first page. He quickly grabbed them and placed them in his backpack, casting an invisibility spell on himself just as an Imperial battlemage ran down into the basement.

"What in the name of… Eliarie! Are you alright? Who did this? Where are you?!"

Assurrani jumped up and grabbed the edge of the windowframe, hauling himself up and out onto the alleyway. A beggar sat opposite the window noisily eating a small piece of bread. Assurrani got up and ran around the corner, onto the street that the entrance to the guildhall was on. Two guards were running towards the guildhall, having heard commotion, and the townspeople were gathering around. This was no good. He had to find somewhere secluded where the spell could wear off.

Assurrani ran down the street, away from the town centre, then leapt over a low wall and ducked behind it. He was in the back garden of somebody's house – he prayed to Mephala that the owner wasn't looking into their back garden at that very moment. A few seconds later, Assurrani returned to visibility. Success.

-------------

_Skingrad, West Gate, 9 years earlier_

"Camri, I'm still not convinced about this…" Elers whispered. The two of them were perched on top of a small grassy hill overlooking the west gate of Skingrad. Two guards stood on patrol outside the gate.

"I can't ask you to stay with me while I do this" Camri said. "We might both be killed. Then again, we might succeed and prove to the townspeople how idiotic the fining system is"

Camri pointed to one of the guards. "That's him. He's arrested me twice. Once for arguing with another guard, once for pissing in public. He's cost me 200 Septims and two nights in the dungeon"

"I'm out" Elers said, standing up. "Camri, I'm all for you fighting establishment. The law, the way lawbreakers are prosecuted, the way the Emperor is trying to make Cyrodiil the only province in Tamriel, the unfair trading with the poorer provinces. Someone needs to put a stop to it. Maybe you are the one to do it. But killing a guard? He's just trying to earn a living, Camri"

"I was just trying to earn a living when my father burnt those documents last year" Camri replied. Elers looked at him.

"I'll help you out. I'll walk round the bypass, go in through the east gate. Stop them getting suspicious"

"So this is it, you're abandoning me?"

"Camri. You're still my dear friend. But I don't want to be involved in this. I'll see you soon, Camri"

With that, Elers began to walk north, stooping down in the low grass, towards the road that led north around Skingrad. Camri lay down in the grass and drew his bow. The guard was around 100 yards away from him – an easy shot for the trained marksman, even at night.

Taking a few seconds to gather himself, Camri took an arrow from his quiver, also making sure the bag of gold was still in place on his belt. 1000 Septims. It had taken him a long time to earn, but if he succeeded it would be worth every coin.

Camri nocked the arrow, took aim and fired. A fraction of a second later, he saw the guard get hurled backwards by the force of the arrow, its shaft jutting horribly from his forehead.

"Who's out there?" the other guard bellowed. Camri dropped his bow and stepped down the hill, onto the road, into full view of the guard.

"You there!" the guard shouted at him. "Surrender or die!"

Camri took the bag of gold from his belt, dropped it on the ground then raised both hands above his head. The guard approached him and held his sword across Camri's throat.

"You've just committed murder!" the guard said angrily. "A thousand Septims or a long spell in the dungeon. Which is it to be?"

"At my feet is a bag containing a thousand Septims" Camri said calmly. "So I'll take the former option, please"

"Come with me" the guard said, grabbing Camri by the wrist. "We're going to get this counted by the treasury"

"Let me get this right" Camri said. "I just killed someone, but because I can afford to, I can simply donate a thousand Septims to the town treasury and get away with it"

"Yes, that's the way it is" the guard sighed. "You know, I never liked that man anyway. All he wanted was to be a Captain, no interest in the protection of the town"

"You sound unhappy with the way you're being forced to treat me" Camri said. He no longer sounded like he was mocking the guard, more being sympathetic towards him.

"I've got to earn a living" the guard said. "I don't like the way that anyone with wealth can literally get away with murder. But I have to do it to feed my family"

"This is just what I need!" Camri exclaimed. "Sir, if I told you I was to start a campaign to get the current system abolished, would you help me?"

The guard turned to look at Camri. "Yes. I suppose I would"

------------

Camri and Areen walked quickly through the tall grass and spare trees, up and down the undulating slopes of eastern Cyrodiil. As they ran, Camri would occasionally think he could hear someone or something behind him, but whenever he turned round, nobody was there. _Rats, _he thought to himself.

Then, he heard the sound of a twig snapping under a footfall. A rat couldn't have done that.

"Areen!" Camri called. Areen stopped and turned to face Camri.

"What is it?"

"We're being followed"

Areen took a small glass phial from his belt and drank the contents, then looked around.

"There!" he exclaimed suddenly. Camri guessed he had drunk a life-detection potion and had seen something. Areen raced past Camri, back down the trail they had come down. Eventually, he stopped, exhausted.

"Whatever it was, it got away" Areen said between breaths.

"It could have been…" Camri began.

"What?"

"An Imperial spy. I used to know an enchanter, used to sell apparel to the Legion that made their soldiers invisible. That's how they spy on people. By not being seen"

"Why would they be spying on us?"

"Areen, think about what we're doing. We're preparing to go to war with the Empire. I think that's a good enough reason to spy on us"

"We need to get to Morahame, quickly" Areen said. "Before they send something more dangerous after us"

-------------

_Hammerfell / High Rock border, Redguard Bridge Tavern_

Ariel woke up suddenly and climbed out of her bed. Horunn was still pacing up and down the room, guarding her.

"Are you alright, Ariel?" Horunn asked.

"There's trouble in Cyrodiil! We need to stop it!"

"Hang on" Horunn said. Ariel could tell he was tired and not in the mood for her predictions of the future. "What kind of trouble, and why do we need to stop it?"

"There's two people, an Imperial and an Argonian, making their way to an ancient Ayleid library. I'm not 100 sure I'm interpreting the visions correctly, but I saw something about a war in southern Cyrodiil, the Empire going to war with Argonia and Elsweyr to try and claim more land. The Imperial and the Argonian are going to stop it"

"And?"

"An Imperial spy just found them, and they're going to be killed unless we can save them!"

Horunn took Ariel's hand. "We'll get a caravan to Cyrodiil at first light" Horunn said. "You should sleep more. Dream more, and find out more about what you have to do"


	3. Morahame

**Chapter 3 – Morahame**

Hearing a knock on his bedroom door, Seminus walked over to the door and opened it. Before him stood Assurrani, clutching a pile of papers in his arms.

"You can give me that writ now" Assurrani said, striding into the room.

"I hear there was murder in Cheydinhal" Seminus said. "Well done for escaping without being seen. It seems you do have what it takes, so the writ is yours"

"So now what?" Assurrani asked.

"I hate to send you away so quickly again, but this next task is extremely important"

Seminus unrolled a scroll on his desk, revealing a map of Cyrodiil, then drew a cross on it with a quill.

"This is the location of the Ayleid ruin of Morahame. An Imperial and an Argonian are making their way to it and they must be stopped. If they're carrying a book when you find them, bring that back to me as well. The Argonian doesn't matter as much, but the Imperial must be killed"

"Who is he?"

"Camri Everlight. He's an enemy of the Empire and he's currently our biggest threat"

"It will be done" Assurrani said. "I will ride out at once"

"Wait, Falas. I have something for you" Seminus said. From his desk, he picked up the ebony sword; the one Assurrani had delivered to him as part of his cover. Seminus presented the sword to Assurrani.

"Thanks for your help"

------------

_Morahame, outside_

"It's too dangerous for us both to go in" Camri said. "You go and find the book. I'll stand guard"

"No, we must stay together" Areen said. "Wherever we are, we stand more chance of survival together than apart"

"What do you think we'll be up against in there?" Camri asked.

"It's an ancient ruin. Probably skeletons"

"Alright. Do you have a weapon with you?"

Areen walked over to a tree and snapped a large branch from it, snapping the smaller branches and twigs from it to create a staff.

"I do now" Areen said.

-------------

The pair walked slowly through the corridors of Morahame, following steep staircases downwards into the depths of the ruin.

"Wait!" Areen whispered loudly, holding his hand up. Camri stopped, and could hear a faint sound, a creaking coming from deep in the ruin.

"Skeletons" Camri said, drawing his sword.

Areen continued down the staircase, Camri following close behind him, until he reached their base. The creaking was becoming louder now.

"They're in this room" Areen whispered.

"Ready?" Camri whispered back, nodding towards the room. Areen gave him the thumbs-up and gripped his staff with both hands.

The pair ran out into the small room and three skeletons ran at them, all armed with swords and shields. Camri ran to engage one straight away, swinging his sword downwards with all his might. The skeleton blocked the blow with its shield, but the force snapped the skeleton's arm clean off. The skeleton began slashing wildly with its sword, but Camri managed to block all the swordstrokes. As the skeleton recoiled from a particularly powerful stroke being blocked, Camri kicked the skeleton in its ribgate, literally smashing it to pieces.

Areen, meanwhile, used his staff to block and deflect swordstrokes from one of the other skeletons, skilfully moving the staff back as it blocked swordstrokes to reduce the impact force. Considering his staff was nothing more than a branch, it was proving an effective weapon. Areen gripped one end of the staff with both hands and swung it as hard as he could. The skeleton tried to block Areen's attack but it wasn't strong enough. The staff ploughed through the skeleton, breaking off its shield arm and smashing its ribcage to pieces. The skeleton fell to the ground, now nothing more than a lifeless pile of bones.

Just as he delivered the killing blow, Areen had heard something behind him. High up above him, the stone door of the ruin had ground open. Someone else was in here.

"Camri!" Areen shouted. "We've got company!"

"Deal with this last skeleton then find that book!" Camri called back. He delivered a powerful swordstroke to the skeleton he was fighting, knocking it back as his sword collided with the skeleton's shield, then he turned and ran back up the corridor they had come from.

--------------

Falas Assurrani, gripping his newly-acquired ebony sword, crouch-ran through the corridors of Morahame. He could hear the sound of battle below, guessing it to be his targets fighting the residents of Morahame. Good. They would be weak from battle. An easy fight.

However, he could hear something else. The sound of boots on stone, coming towards him. Falas extinguished his magical light and placed an amulet around his neck, granting him the gift of night-eye. He could see torchlight coming up a corridor which joined onto the passageway he was in. Assurrani crept towards the junction and waited.

A figure raced out of the corridor, but no sooner had he left it when Assurrani crash-tackled him to the ground and pinned him down, holding his sword to the figure's chest.

"Camri Everlight, I believe?" Assurrani snarled.

"You're not an agent of the Empire" Camri said calmly. "I was expecting someone else"

"The book" Assurrani said. "Where is it?"

Camri paused for a second. "I take that back. You are working for the Empire!"

Camri thrust his knees up, knocking Assurrani and distracting him for a split-second, which he used to wrench one arm free and punch Assurrani hard in the side of the head. Assurrani was knocked to the ground as Camri leapt to his feet and retrieved his sword from where it had been knocked from his hands by Assurrani's attack. But no sooner had he turned to face the Dunmer when he too had regained his footing. Both stood facing each other, brandishing their swords, daring each other to make the first move.

------------

Outside, two more reached the ruin. They stopped for breath by the open doorway.

"We're too late!" Ariel cried.

"We're never too late" Horunn said, drawing his sword. "Follow me and watch out for trouble"

------------

Assurrani lunged forwards, thrusting his sword towards Camri. Camri leapt to the side just in time to avoid being impaled on Assurrani's blade – he felt the blade tear his fur coat that he was wearing. Camri used the opportunity to swing his blade horizontally at Assurrani's throat, but Assurrani withdrew and blocked the attack with his own sword, then kicked Camri in the stomach, knocking him to the ground.

-------------

"Around the corner!" Ariel whispered. Horunn stopped in his tracks.

"Kill the Dunmer, you say?" Horunn asked, turning to look at Ariel.

"No" Ariel said. "For some reason he needs to live. We need to prevent him from killing the Argonian or the Imperial"

Ariel raced around the corner and held her hands out. She could see the Dunmer with his back to her, about to plunge his sword into the Imperial's chest. Drawing her hands back, she saw the Dunmer suddenly get lifted off his feet as he began to fly back towards Ariel.

"Duck!" Ariel shouted. She threw her hands forward, sending the Dunmer soaring down the corridor and landing in a crumpled heap, tumbling down a staircase. At the same moment, the Argonian appeared from a side passage, clutching a book in one hand and a wooden staff in the other.

"Let's get out of here" Camri said to Areen. "I don't like what this is turning into"

Ariel overheard them. "We mean you no harm!" she called to them. "I came here to save you!"

With that, her and Horunn began running back where they came from, out of the tomb, Camri and Areen following a short distance behind them, as Assurrani slowly got to his feet.

------------

Horunn and Ariel burst out of the ruin into broad daylight. As Camri and Areen followed them, Ariel turned round and brought an enormous fallen stone pillar crashing down around the doorway.

"It will take him hours to escape from that" Ariel said.

"Alright, who are you and how did you know we were here?" Camri asked, walking up to her.

"My name is Ariel Lasaille" Ariel said "And this is Horunn, my guardian. We are both part of a huge event. I saw a vision that you were in trouble, so we came to save you"

"Camri Everlight" Camri said. "And my friend is Areen. We are agents of the nation of Argonia. We need to talk – we should make camp somewhere"

------------

An hour later, Camri and Ariel sat at a campfire, with Areen and Horunn on guard at the edges of the small camp.

"So, you seem to be a master of telekinesis" Camri said to Ariel.

"I am a mystic" Ariel replied. "And I have to gift of being able to predict the future, to an extent. Everyone wants to harness my gift. I am constantly being pursued, and it's Horunn's task to keep me safe"

"A very noble man indeed" Camri said, looking at the Nord. "You said we are both part of a big event?"

"Yes" Ariel said. "I have pieced this together from several dreams. It's to do with the war in the south. You have to stop it, by finding out what the Marsh Spirit is and using it to stop the Empire from invading Black Marsh and Elsweyr. And I have to help you"

"What about the Dunmer? I'm pretty sure he's working for the Empire"

"He is" Ariel said. "He appeared in my visions too. And I don't think you're going to like what I'm about to say"

"Try me"

"He needs to be alive. I don't know why, but he can't die. But he will constantly be trying to find the Marsh Spirit, and he will constantly be trying to kill us"

"That's why you sent him flying out of harm's way instead of setting Horunn on him" Camri said. "It all makes sense now"

"What is that book Areen had?"

"We were sent to retrieve it by Sudana, an Argonian wise woman"

"We should get it back to her" Ariel said. "I think we're in this together now, Camri"

"Well, how I see it there's two things we need to do" Camri said. "First, take this book back to Sudana. That's our first step towards finding the Marsh Spirit and stopping the war. Secondly, we need to throw the Dunmer off our trail"

"Assurrani" Ariel said. "His name is Falas Assurrani, and he's a Morag Tong agent"

"And does he know that he can't die?"

"No. And we should aim to keep it that way"

"Assurrani" Areen said, walking over to them whilst constantly looking around for threats. "That's an Ashlander name. They're very traditionalist Dunmer, the ashlanders. They hate the Argonians and the Khajiit and I'm sure he'd happily see Black Marsh and Elsweyr fall to the Empire"

------------

Assurrani walked into Seminus' bedroom, a grave look on his face.

"What happened?" Seminus asked.

"I nearly had him" Assurrani said. "The Imperial. I was on top of him, ready to slit his throat, then someone else turned up. She was a Breton, quite young, about eighteen I'd say. She cast some spell, hurled me down the corridor. They all escaped then somehow triggered a rockslide that trapped me in the tomb for hours"

"Anything else to report?"

"The Argonian had that book you wanted me to get. There was a Nord too, a warrior, with the Breton"

"Don't worry about failing, Assurrani" Seminus said. "I forgive you, because had you been killed, or if you'd got to the Imperial earlier, we wouldn't know about this Breton"

"You think she's a threat?"

"If she's a powerful enough mage to throw a person down a corridor, then she's a threat" Seminus said. "And she must have known the others were in that tomb. So she's working with them"

Seminus got up and began pacing around his bedroom.

"Assurrani, there's a reason I hired you and not an Imperial agent" he said. "Your nation has a deep dislike towards the beast races, am I correct?"

Assurrani nodded.

"I think you deserve to know what this is about. The Emperor has passed a secret order to me and a few other generals to launch a military campaign to invade Black Marsh and Elsweyr and reclaim them, or at least parts of them, for the Empire. But the lizards have somehow found out about our plan"

"You say it's a secret order? Then you can't have the whole Imperial Legion assemble in southern Cyrodiil without arousing suspicion"

"Exactly. Which is why I hired you to help me. Somewhere in Cyrodiil is something called The Marsh Spirit. It's a weapon of some sort. If we have it, we will win the war. That's all I know. You're going to help me find it and kill anyone who gets in the way"

"What about the Imperial? Is he working for the Argonians?"

"Yes. He's an outlaw, hates the Empire with a passion. That Argonian he was with broke him out of jail, and now he's working for them"

"So, we – I – need to find the Marsh Spirit. Where do I start?"

"We need to track down the Imperial and the Breton. They seem to be on a trail already. Follow them, spy on them, then as soon as you find out the whereabouts of the Marsh Spirit, kill them"


	4. Good Weather For Airstrikes

**Chapter 4 – Good Weather For Airstrikes**

_Veyond Cave, near Bravil_

Camri, Areen, Ariel and Horunn walked into the cave, the rock walls illuminated by a torch held by Horunn. They reached the first chamber and saw Sudana, along with her two guards.

"Areen, Camri, you have returned" she said, approaching them. "And you have the book"

"Sudana, this is Ariel Lasaille and Horunn. They have an aim in common with us"

Sudana took the book from Areen and shook hands with Ariel and Horunn.

"What is it, Areen?" Sudana said, looking into Areen's eyes. "Something's wrong"

"The Empire are onto us" Areen said. "They've hired an agent, Falas Assurrani, to stop what we're doing. And he can't die"

"He can't die?" Sudana said dubiously. "This needs explaining"

-------------

The next day, Camri walked into Sudana's study in Veyond Cave.

"Anything?" Camri asked. Sudana was reading the book that Camri and Areen had recovered from Morahame.

"This book is exactly what I was looking for. It was written by an Argonian mage during the War of the Niben. It looks like the creators of the Marsh Spirit left a secret trail, or maybe a code, that leads to it"

"What do you mean?" Camri asked, sitting down next to her.

"The book was written in Daedric, presumably to stop all but the most well-educated from being able to understand it" Sudana said. "This is a translation of the last page"

Sudana handed Camri a piece of paper, which he read aloud.

"We shall continue our work in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It is a secret place, deep in the heart of the Empire. If you wish to join me there, stand by the castle gates in Chorrol at 5 hours past noon"

"I see what you mean" Camri said. "The Church of the Holy Sepulchre… I don't know it, I'm afraid"

"Neither do I, but at least we have somewhere to start" Sudana said. "If you set off now, you can be in Chorrol by that time"

---------------

Outside, Areen and Horunn stood guarding the cave. They had lit a fire over which a pot of water was simmering – to a passer-by it would have looked like they were simply two wildmen cooking.

"What's going on, Areen?" Horunn asked suddenly. "Your people are plotting something against the Empire"

"Our people are defending ourselves" Areen replied. "To an extent, at least. The Empire plans to invade southern Tamriel, claiming Black Marsh and Elsweyr and placing them under Imperial rule. When the Empire invades, my people will strike back, as will the people of Elsweyr. We will do what they are trying to do to us, and reclaim the parts of southern Cyrodiil that were once ours"

"I do not normally care for the affairs of the Empire" Horunn said. "But it seems that Ariel does"

"Camri told me something" Areen said. "He says that Ariel told her that it is his and her destiny to stop the war"

"Ariel is a very special person" Horunn said. "I do not believe in destiny, but there must be a reason Ariel was blessed with her powers. Perhaps this is it"

"Shit, someone was in there!" Areen shouted suddenly. He had seen a flash of purple dart from the mouth of the cave, someone invisible who Areen only noticed thanks to one of his life-detection potions.

Areen took a small steel dart and dipped it in a small phial of potion on his belt, then began sprinting after the purple glow. He could run quicker than whoever it was, and as soon as he was in range he hurled the dart, striking the figure in the thigh. As he did so, he ducked down into the undergrowth as the dispelling potion took effect, revealing Falas Assurrani. Assurrani looked around, saw nothing and began walking swiftly through the undergrowth away from Areen. When Assurrani was out of sight, Areen got up and ran back to the cave, where Ariel and Camri were waiting with Horunn.

"It was Assurrani" Areen said between gasps of breath as he got back to the cave. "He was in the cave, spying on us"

"Which way did he run?" Camri asked.

"North, towards the Imperial City"

"He overheard me and Sudana, then" Camri said bleakly. "He's on his way to Chorrol"

"What?"

"Sudana translated the book we got from Morahame. The upshot is that we need to be outside Castle Chorrol at 5 o'clock, and apparently we'll find the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which may be the whereabouts of the Marsh Spirit"

"We can buy some time if we can find the church without having to be in Chorrol" Ariel said. "What did the book say? Deep in the heart of the Empire…"

"The Imperial City?" Camri asked.

"No, if it was there its whereabouts would be public knowledge. It could be referring to the Imperial Reserve…"

"That's near Chorrol, it would make sense" Camri said. "But I only know of one church in the Reserve, it's in Hackdirt. They're Daedra worshippers. I wouldn't really associate the name 'Holy Sepulchre' with the Daedra"

"I don't think we have much choice" Areen said. "If we go to Chorrol, we've got Assurrani to deal with. If we go straight to the church, we can be in and out before he even reaches Chorrol"

"To the Imperial Reserve, then" Camri said as he began to walk in the direction of the road.

------------

_The Imperial City, Office of Imperial Commerce_

Buoyant Armiger Eldred Moravahn approached the man sitting behind the desk that was the only thing on the ground floor of the Office of Imperial Commerce.

"Can I help you?" the man asked.

"I am Eldred Moravahn, Buoyant Armiger of the Tribunal Temple of Morrowind. I have been sent to see Commander Villars"

"I thought it was you" the man said, standing up. "I'm Commander Villars, temporary employee of the Office of Imperial Commerce. The less people there are between us, the better"

Commander Tertius Villars of the Imperial Watch had been given a task of utmost importance by the Emperor himself. Corruption in the upper ranks of the Imperial army, suspicion of high-ranking generals trying to engineer war in southern Tamriel for their own personal gain. Eldred Moravahn was sent from Morrowind because the Emperor also suspected involvement by the Morag Tong, and the reasons for a Temple representative being sent to Cyrodiil were twofold – the Temple were sworn enemies with the Morag Tong, and they were also attempting to rekindle their failing alliance with the Empire.

Eldred looked around the room. Apart from himself and Villars, it was empty.

"So, what have you achieved without me?" Eldred asked. "Any suspects yet?"

"Just one" Villars said. "General Anvius Seminus. A Dunmer entered Cyrodiil a few weeks ago from Morrowind, stating that he was a courier delivering an ebony sword to Seminus, one that had been forged personally for him, with his initials inscribed on the handle, in Morrowind"

"Sounds fine to me" Eldred said. "I'm an agent of the Temple and I can afford a glass sword, so I'm sure a General can afford an ebony one"

"Yes, but there's two loose ends. One, General Seminus hasn't fought a battle for the last 10 years. He's a pen-pusher, works in recruiting, training, commanding operations from back here in the City, that sort of thing. Two, Seminus and myself used to be guards in the Market District. Whenever there was trouble and he had to draw a weapon, it would always be an axe. I've never seen him hold a sword in my life"

"What do you want me to do, then?"

"He has a room on permanent rent at the Tiber Septim Hotel. That's all I know about him, and I want to know more. And I'm going to see what I can find on the Dunmer who brought the sword to him"

---------------

Falas Assurrani walked through the gates of Chorrol, seeing the castle standing proudly on a small hill in the east of the town. By the angle of the sun in the sky, he guessed it to be around 4 o'clock – he had a while to wait. Another thing he had noticed was the weather – over the last week, everywhere north of the Imperial City had seen nothing but torrential rain. That day, however, the sky was cloudless and the sun burnt brightly in the west.

As 5 o'clock approached, Assurrani kept his eyes peeled on the castle. He wasn't entirely sure what was going to happen, until he noticed something. A bright glow, high up on the castle gate. Assurrani raced towards it, and as he approached it he noticed that the sunlight was at the correct angle to shine through a diamond mounted into the castle gate, which magnified the sunlight into a fine beam. This beam reflected off a tiny sliver of silver mounted on another wall beyond the gate, then simply hit the southern wall of the castle courtyard and ended.

Assurrani examined this phenomenon, frantically trying to deduce its meaning before the beam faded as the sun moved out of alignment.

Then, it hit him. He had almost forgotten what he was looking for. It was a church. A secret place, deep in the heart of the Empire. The beam of light was pointing south, out of Chorrol towards the Imperial Reserve. The heart of the Empire.

-------------

_East of Hackdirt, The Imperial Reserve_

Areen led Camri, Ariel and Horunn through the undergrowth until Hackdirt came into view.

"Hackdirt is a dangerous place" Areen whispered. "They've become so detached from the Empire that they've got their own army who will attack any outsiders on sight"

Camri took his bow off his back and gave it to Areen, along with the quiver of arrows. "You seem to have a good grasp on marksmanship, if those darts are anything to go by" Camri said. "Cover us from back here. Horunn, Ariel, come with me"

"Most of the soldiers are garrisoned in the church" Ariel said. "But there's a secret entrance to the church, through the caves"

"Caves?" Camri asked.

"Yes, there's a series of natural caverns that run underneath Hackdirt. There's a trapdoor into them in every house"

"Leave that to me" Camri said. "If you can, draw some of the soldiers out of the church and make my job a bit easier"

Areen drew a bead on one of the Hackdirt soldiers who were patrolling the streets of the village. He released the drawstring, and the well-aimed arrow sailed through the air, striking the soldier in the temple and killing him instantly.

"_Outsiders!"_one of the other soldiers bellowed. There were five more on patrol on the high street of the village.

Camri leapt from cover, motioning Horunn and Ariel to do the same. A nearby soldier spotted them immediately and charged at Camri, who swiftly drew his sword and plunged it into the soldier's chest before he had chance to attack. Next to him, Horunn used his shield to block a blow from another soldier's mace, as Camri turned to face his next opponent. The soldier swung an axe at Camri, who ducked to avoid the blow, returning the attack by lunging forwards and crash-tackling the soldier to the ground. Suddenly, he looked up to see another soldier racing towards him, a sword held high above his head. As Camri wrestled his opponent on the ground, a well-built Imperial soldier, he desperately picked up the soldier's axe and hurled it behind him at Ariel.

_Please figure it out, Ariel… _

Ariel saw the axe flying towards her and instinctively holding her hands in front of her, halting the axe and leaving it hovering in the air. Pushing her hands forward, she sent the axe spinning through the air at phenomenal speed. The axe struck the swordsman square in the chest and sent him flying backwards, landing awkwardly head-first on the paved high street and snapping his neck.

Camri used the distraction to leap to his feet and slit the throat of the soldier he was fighting with his sword. As he looked around, he saw that Horunn had killed the soldier he was fighting. The fifth soldier turned round and bolted back into the village, disappearing into a run-down house.

Camri walked around, collecting the weapons of the five fallen soldiers, and dumped them at Ariel's feet.

"Between us we've come up with a very powerful weapon" Camri said. "You should be able to hold the village"

"I know very little about weapons" Ariel said. "I fear telekinesis may not be the way to fight this battle"

"Ariel, if a person gets hit by a large piece of metal flying at high speed, they won't be fighting many more battles" Camri replied. "Besides, you've got Horunn to look after you"

Areen approached the pair, carrying Camri's bow in one hand and his wooden staff in the other.

"I have fought alongside you since we met, and it's not about to change" Areen said. "Let's find a way into the caves"

"Gentlemen, remember we don't have long" Horunn said urgently. "We have to get into that church as soon as possible"

"Why?" Areen asked.

"Assurrani" Horunn replied. "If we can't kill him, it would benefit us hugely if he didn't turn up"

"I'll signal you somehow when we get into the church" Camri said. "Then, break down those doors and attack"


	5. Assurrani's Sword

**Chapter 5 – Assurrani's Sword**

_The Office of Imperial Commerce, The Imperial City_

Commander Villars placed a map down in front of his two agents. Eldred was gone – he had set off on his fact-finding mission, spying on General Seminus.

"I apologise for summoning you at such short notice, gentlemen" Villars said to the two men stood before him. They were his two most trusted agents – Emin Redoras and Aharria Uvaren, two Dunmer who had been recruited from the Morag Tong. As a faction who were, to an extent, sanctioned by the Empire, the Morrowind guild of assassins proved an ideal organisation to recruit Imperial agents from. Redoras and Uvaren were both skilled at the art of killing whilst being remained unseen.

"This may be slightly different to what you're used to" Villars said. "I want the target alive, not dead. And I'm not entirely sure where he is. And you have very little time to find him before he disappears completely.

"All we know is that he's a Dunmer who wears black leather armour and a black hood, and carries an ebony sword. If you can't get him, get the sword"

"Where is he, then?" Redoras asked.

"We saw him leave the city at noon, heading for Chorrol. I don't know what his business there was"

At that moment, there was a knock on the door. Villars placed a hand on the handle of his sword.

"Who's there?"

"_It's Eldred!"_

"Come in!"

Eldred stepped through the door and closed it behind him.

"If he's up to something his security is watertight" Eldred said. "He went out of his room for an hour. I searched it thoroughly, I couldn't find anything. But something was noticeably absent. The ebony sword he supposedly took delivery of. The barmaid even saw the Dunmer come into the hotel a few days ago with the sword, and directed him to Seminus' room"

Villars turned to Redoras and Uvaren. "You should get going if you want to have any hope of catching him"

"Yes, Commander" Uvaren said as the pair walked quickly out of the room.

"The Dunmer has the sword" Villars said to Eldred when they had gone. "I'm sure of it. Think about it, it makes sense"

"Seminus wants someone to help him conduct shady operations behind the Empire's back" Eldred said. "The sword was some form of advanced payment. Any idea who he is?"

"I got the paperwork he filled in at border control when he entered Cyrodiil" Villars said. "His name is Assurrani, Falas Assurrani. He says he's a freelance smith, spent most of his life with a nomadic tribe in the Ashlands but returned to civilisation to make ebony weapons"

"That seems pretty watertight too" Eldred said. "It seems that this sword is the only thing that stops it all from adding up. Commander, with respect, are you sure there's something going on here? Maybe he just wants to learn swordsmanship and can afford a quality blade to do it with?"

"If you can explain why Seminus has moved a hundred men from the Third Battalion down to Leyawiin I'll let this go" Villars said. Eldred stood in silence for a few seconds.

"What can we do now?" he asked.

"We wait" Villars replied. "And hope that my men can get Assurrani's sword"

--------------

Camri and Areen dropped down through a trapdoor into the caves underneath Hackdirt. There were oil-burning lamps glowing at intervals down the passageway, remains of fires, barrels and sacks filled with food and other signs of civilisation littering the cavern floor. Evidently the residents of Hackdirt spent a lot of time in the caverns.

The two crept along the passageway, Camri using nothing but his sense of direction to guide them towards the church.

"Soldiers!" Areen whispered. Further down the passageway, at an intersection, two soldiers crossed their path. Camri drew his bow and waited for them to return.

"Have you noticed how we've only seen soldiers so far?" Camri whispered. "Where are the residents of the village?"

"We'll worry about that later" Areen replied. One of the soldiers walked back out of the side-passage. As soon as he did so, Camri nocked an arrow and fired it down the passageway, striking the guard in the neck and puncturing his jugular vein. The soldier tried to shout for help before falling to the ground, dead. The other soldier soon appeared from the side passage, but by then Camri had loaded another arrow and took the soldier down.

The pair began to run quickly down the passageway. Ladders led up to trapdoors all around them. They passed the intersection and reached the end of the passageway, where another ladder led up to a wide trapdoor.

"I think this is it" Camri whispered.

"How are you going to signal Ariel and Horunn?" Areen asked, stopping Camri before he threw the trapdoor open.

"I'll find a way of breaking one of the windows"

Camri threw open the trapdoor then leapt up into the church, Areen following him. They emerged at the back of the church, behind an altar. Had they been more discreet in their entry, they might have been able to get in undetected, but the loud bang of the trapdoor hitting the stone floor of the church alerted the soldiers to their presence.

The pair both ran out of cover of the altar, one from each side, to engage the group of soldiers garrisoned in the church. There were at least twenty in there, maybe more.

A soldier charged towards Camri wielding an axe, holding it high above his head as he bellowed out a primal scream. Camri threw up his sword, blocking the axe-stroke, then kicked the soldier in the groin through his tattered leather armour. As the soldier reeled back, Camri thrust his sword upward through the soldier's chest. Without losing a second, he grabbed the soldier's axe and hurled it across the church into one of the large stained-glass windows, shattering it with an enormous _smash!, _sending shards of glass flying across the church.

---------------

"They're in!" Ariel cried. "Come on!"

Ariel and Horunn raced over to the church door, Ariel carrying two shortswords in her hands. Using telekinesis she manoeuvred them so they were hovering in front of the large wooden door, facing into the church. Horunn turned the iron handle and threw the doors open, diving to cover as soon as he did so. Two soldiers raced out of the church but were soon met by the sight of two shortswords flying towards them and thudding into their skulls, killing them instantly. As another soldier began to run out of the door towards Ariel, Horunn leapt out of cover and sank his sword into the man's abdomen.

---------------

A few miles north, Falas Assurrani ran through the Great Forest as fast as he could, constantly checking his compass bearing. The slightest change of direction could make him miss the church altogether, which would mean that the Imperial and the Breton could have been in and out before he'd even got there.

Unbeknownst to him, half a mile behind him were two Imperial agents hunting him down.

Assurrani soon reached Hackdirt. He could hear the sound of battle coming from inside the church. It meant that they were here already, and had encountered some form of resistance. Ducking down into the undergrowth, he drew his sword and began creeping towards the church. There was a small back door leading into it – perhaps he could get the drop off them.

-------------

"Assurrani's here!" Ariel cried suddenly. In front of her, Horunn parried with a soldier before Areen raced up to them and swung his staff into the soldier's head, snapping his neck clean in two.

"What did you say?" Horunn said, running towards her.

"He's outside! He's coming in through that back door!"

Areen saw the door Ariel was talking about. Camri was standing right next to it.

"Camri!" Areen yelled, racing towards him. Soldiers took swings at him with their weapons but he skilfully ducked and rolled to avoid them. Just as he reached Camri, fighting off two soldiers, the wooden door behind him flew open and Falas Assurrani ran into the church. Areen brandished his staff like a battering ram, using his momentum to drive it into Assurrani and push him back out the door before he had chance to attack Camri. Areen slammed the door shut whilst Assurrani got to his feet outside.

"Go! Now!" Areen shouted to Camri. Camri swung his sword horizontally, hewing the head clean off one of the soldiers, then punched the other hard in the face, knocking him unconscious.

"Get out the way of that door!" Ariel shouted at them from across the hall. They both dived back behind the altar as a wooden pew soared across the church and stopped inches before the side door, barricading it shut.

"What do we do?" Camri asked, getting up. By now, Horunn and Ariel had dealt with the rest of the soldiers.

"We need to hold him back somehow" Areen said. "I'll see if I can sneak up on him and paralyse him"

"He's moving…" Ariel said, glancing around. "There's someone else out there!"

"What? Who?" Horunn said, turning to her.

"Two agents… They've got him! They've paralysed him and they're dragging him away!"

"We have to stop them!" Camri shouted, racing towards the door that led back out to the village.

"No!" Ariel cried, grabbing his arm as he ran past her and stopping him. "We need to find the reason we were supposed to come here!"

"But what if they kill him?" Camri retorted. "You said he can't be killed"

"They just want information" Ariel said. "At first, anyway. If he doesn't give them what they want then they will kill him. But they're not going to kill him straight away"

"I suppose their tracks won't be hard to follow" Camri said. "In any case, we'd better find whatever is here quickly"

"Camri!" Areen called. On the altar, he had found a thick book which he was reading through.

"What is it?" Camri said as he ran over to Areen, Ariel following him.

"It's written in Daedric, but there are a few characters of the Tamrielic alphabet in there. They spell something out"

"What?"

"They spell 'Lost Meridia'"

"That's maddeningly unhelpful… Anything else"

"Look at the last page" Ariel said. "There's something there"

Ariel took the book from Areen and turned to the last page. To the untrained eye it just looked like another page filled with Daedric script.

"Look at this" Ariel said, pointing to one of the characters. "This isn't a letter in the Daedric alphabet, it's a map"

"A map of what?" Camri asked, looking at the symbol Ariel was pointing at. He recognised the outline of the symbol. It was the same shape as the outline of his hometown, Skingrad. In the middle of a circle that represented the castle was a cross.

"Looks like we've got our next destination, then" Camri said. "Skingrad is only a few miles south of here"

"There's something else though" Ariel said. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but we need to go and rescue Assurrani"

----------------

On the banks of Lake Rumare, Redoras and Uvaren, dragging a bound and gagged Assurrani, met up with Eldred.

"Did you get his weapon?" Eldred asked them. Redoras produced an ebony sword from his belt.

"Good work, gentlemen. Take him to Fanacasecul and don't let anyone see you"

-------------

"I knew it!" Villars exclaimed, examining the sword. A.K.S., General Seminus' initials, were engraved on the sword.

"So this is the sword that Assurrani brought into Cyrodiil and supposedly delivered to Seminus"

"Where did you find him?" Villars asked. "Now we know that he's working for Seminus, we need to find what he's up to"

"He was outside the church in Hackdirt. Redoras said they could hear some sort of battle going on inside the church but they focused on getting Assurrani back here. They've taken him to Fanacasecul, like you wanted"

"Excellent" Villars said. "I've got another little task for you. I saw General Seminus again today, going up to his room in the Tiber Septim Hotel. I don't think he knows anyone saw him. He was carrying a bundle of papers with him"

"And?"

"Well, was there a bundle of papers in his room when you searched it?"

"No"

"So they're obviously something important, if he's keeping them with him at all times. I need those papers, or at least to know what they are"

---------------

In Hackdirt, the group were preparing to go their separate ways. They had to find whatever the map in the book from the church was leading them to, and they had to rescue Assurrani.

"Rescuing Assurrani is a sideline" Areen said. "Finding what this map is leading us to in Skingrad is much more important. Camri, you should go to Skingrad"

"Areen, Horunn, think you're up to finding our man?" Camri asked. "I'll need Ariel with me"

"Why me?" Ariel asked.

"Because we're the two who are supposed to be saving the world" Camri replied. "You can solve this little puzzle and I'll deal with anyone who gets in our way"

"Are you sure you can even get into Skingrad?" Areen asked. "From what you've told me they really don't like you there"

"I've spent long enough spending time at the Count's pleasure to know that there's more than one way into Castle Skingrad" Camri replied. "OK, we will meet at Veyond Cave in two days' time"

"Wait, Camri" Horunn said. "What do we do with Assurrani when we find him?"

"Just let him go, but make sure he doesn't see your faces"

"Very well" Horunn said. "Look after Ariel"

"Only if you look after Areen"


	6. Enemy of the Empire

**Chapter 6 – Enemy Of The Empire**

Camri and Ariel emerged from the forests of the Imperial Reserve to gaze across the West Weald. The sun was just beginning to set, bathing the undulating hills in an eerie twilight. A faint glow came from Skingrad, to the south, from the huge torches that burnt constantly outside the castle. To the west, atop a large hill, the city of Kvatch could be seen, also emanating a gentle orange glow.

"We should rest for a while" Camri said, gazing around. "Then we'll make the push to Skingrad under the cover of darkness"

Camri spotted a campsite a few hundred metres away from them. Two men could be seen in the camp, one sitting at a campfire, the other patrolling the perimeter of the camp. Camri pointed it out to Ariel.

"Good or bad?"

"They're bandits" Ariel said. "I imagine they will attack us on sight"

Camri drew his bow and began walking quickly in the direction of the camp. As he got closer, still unsighted, he lay down in the grass and held his bow horizontally. Nocking an arrow, he aimed and fired. His aim was good even in the reduced light and the arrow struck the patrolling bandit in the chest, knocking him to the ground unconscious. The second bandit got up and started running towards Camri, but Camri quickly reloaded and fired again, taking him down.

-------------

"Ariel, I never asked you" Camri said suddenly as the pair sat at the campfire. "How did you become involved in all this?"

"I sensed that something was wrong in the south, something to do with the Empire" Ariel said. "The closer me and Horunn got to Cyrodiil, the more clear it became. I sensed that you were in danger in Morahame, and that I couldn't let you be killed. And that's how it began"

"And you are not worried about the repercussions this might have? Interfering with the affairs of the Empire?"

"Camri, I am no friend of the Empire" Ariel said. "For too long they have been trying to take me prisoner, to use my powers to help them in affairs like this. And even before they started coming after me they knew about my powers but did nothing to protect me"

"The Empire has changed" Camri said earnestly. "The Septim dynasty looked after the people. The new dynasty looks after the wealth. The Emperor cares only for three things – himself, money and the Imperial Legion. If one thing becomes of this, it's that we can show everyone what he's doing to the Empire. Maybe it will lead to revolt and the Elder Council regaining power. Who knows"

Camri looked at Ariel as she gazed south towards Skingrad. For the first time since they had met he realised how beautiful she was, possessing the delicate features and fair hair that only a Breton could possess. He felt strangely protective of her, the wayward mystic who had spent her life on the run from every organisation in Cyrodiil.

The pair of them sat in silence for a few minutes before Ariel turned to look at Camri.

"This secret entrance into the castle that you know" she said. "Where abouts in the castle does it come out?"

"In the dungeon" Camri replied. "It's a secret door that looks like a stone wall from the outside. But from the way we're going in, it's clearly a door. It's locked but I know where they key is"

"Where is it?"

"It's inside the city, which might make things a bit more difficult. I left it on the balcony of a manor in the city. The owner never leaves the inside of the house, so they won't have found it"

-------------

Camri and Ariel approached the city of Skingrad from the north. They were going to enter by the east gate that led into the city from the castle, the gate that led into the most lightly-guarded part of the city. There would still be guards to get past, and Camri couldn't run the risk of being recognised. He had instigated a riot in the city, which had resulted in the deaths of many guards and citizens. He was not welcome in Skingrad.

Camri produced a small phial of a blood-coloured liquid that he had mixed at the campsite. It was made from water and a few flowers, with a bit of flour added to give it consistency, but to the untrained eye it looked like blood. Camri poured the liquid onto his hands and began to wipe it over his face and down the front of his leather cuirass.

"Alright, let's go" Camri said, discarding the bottle. He began to limp towards the gate, breathing deeply, leaning on Ariel's shoulder for support. As soon as they got near the gate, the two guards ran to help him.

"By the Nine, what happened to him?" one of the guards asked, taking Camri by the arm.

"I found him out in the wilderness!" Ariel said in the best Imperial accent she could muster. "He won't talk, I think he is in shock. I'm taking him to the healer at the temple"

"Very well" the guard said. "I do hope he is alright"

The pair were granted access to the city, and as soon as the gates had been closed they both darted behind a building, off the main streets. Camri had spent long enough in Skingrad to know the guard patrol routes, and he wanted to avoid them.

"Follow me and tell me if anything looks dangerous" Camri whispered to Ariel. She nodded to show that she'd understood as the pair began running quickly through the back gardens of the houses of Skingrad. Eventually, Camri reached a well and motioned Ariel to stop.

"Are there any guards nearby?"

Ariel looked around then shook her head.

"If I'm in trouble you'll know it" Camri said. "I'll be quick"

Camri clambered up onto the stone wall circling the well then leapt at one of the houses, his fingers gripping a narrow ledge that ran around the building which served no obvious purpose other than to accommodate a few hanging baskets. Camri pulled himself up onto the ledge then began inching his way along it, back towards the high street.

"Guard!" Ariel whispered loudly at him. He stopped a few feet short of the corner onto the high street as a guard walked past, then continued along the precarious ledge. Soon, it met a balcony which hung over the high street. Camri leapt onto the balcony, ducking down and looking around for danger. He crouch-ran along the balcony, using light footsteps so as not to wake the residents of the manor. Reaching the end of the balcony, he took a huge leap, clearing a wide gap and landing on the balcony of the next manor. As he landed, he ducked down and turned around. There, between two of the balcony's balustrades, was a large, rusty key. Camri picked it up…

"Camri! Behind you!"

He heard Ariel's voice cutting through the still night air and spun round. On the high street below, at the other end of the balcony, a guard was staring straight at him.

"Everlight!" the guard bellowed. Camri leapt off the balcony, landing roughly on the street, then jumped to his feet and raced towards Ariel's hiding place.

"Any ideas how we can get out of here?" he asked her between breaths.

"Get us back to the gates" Ariel replied.

--------------

_The Tiber Septim Hotel, Imperial City_

Wearing civilian clothing, Eldred watched General Seminus intently. Seminus was sitting at a table on his own, drinking ale from a tankard. The bundle of papers was lying on the table in front of him, loosely bound with string.

Eldred and Villars' plan to get the papers from Seminus was ingenious. Eldred was going to take the papers when Seminus got up to go to the bar to get his tankard refilled. But the problem was not being seen by Seminus, it was being seen by everyone else in the busy bar. The citizens of the Imperial City were law-abiding folk and would not hesitate in reporting anything suspicious to the guard, or even taking to arms and taking on Eldred themselves.

That was why Eldred was going to make it look like a dead drop, which was why Villars had given him a bag containing 500 Septims. Seminus would leave his table, and Eldred would take the papers, leaving the bag on Seminus' table. The citizens knew that dead drops were used by the Dark Brotherhood, the Thieves' Guild and other shady organisations, and knew well not to interfere with their affairs. They would think that Eldred was an agent acting for one of these organisations and leave him alone.

---------------

_The Elven Gardens, an hour later_

Villars sat in his home in the Elven Gardens, impatiently waiting Eldred's return. He had had to move his operation to his home – the citizens of the city were beginning to wonder why the Office of Imperial Commerce had been closed to the public for the last few days.

There was a knock on the door. Instinctively drawing his sword, Villars got up and walked over to the door. He opened it cautiously and was greeted by the sight of Eldred clutching a bundle of papers.

"Excellent work, Eldred" Villars said, taking the papers from Eldred and inviting him in. The pair both sat down at the table as Villars leafed through the papers – most of them were maps of Ayleid cities or passages of Daedric script translated into Tamrielic.

"Right" Villars said, passing half of the papers to Eldred. "Let's get reading and see what our man's up to"

--------------

Camri and Ariel raced through the back streets of Skingrad towards the gate that led to the castle, the guard who had seen Camri pursuing them. However, the guard's armour was weighing him down and he was not as athletic as Camri or Ariel, so they soon lost him.

Soon, they came into view of the gate. The two gate guards saw them, drew their weapons and raced towards them. Camri brandished his sword in front of him.

"Either you can trust me that I am a competent enough fighter to be able to kill you both and let me pass, or you find out for yourselves and die!" Camri shouted to the guards. Next to him, Ariel raised her arms and threw them forward in the direction of the gate, forcing it open.

"I might need some help, Ariel" Camri said, turning to Ariel as the guards continued to advance towards him.

Camri charged at one of the guards, delivering an enormous downward swordstroke, which knocked the guard to the ground, then swung his sword two-handed to the left, decapitating the other guard.

"Come on!" he shouted to Ariel as he raced out of the gate, Ariel following him. They made it out of the city onto the trail that led up towards the castle, but there were two more guards stationed outside the city who gave chase to them immediately.

"Damnit" Camri whispered to himself. He knew where he was going from here, but needed time. Time which he didn't have with two guards chasing him.

"Camri!" Ariel called. "Get past the arch!"

The pair carried on running, under a colossal stone arch that led onto the bridge that crossed the gorge that marked the eastern point of entry to Skingrad. As they reached the bridge, Ariel turned around and held her hands up, facing the stone arch. Camri guessed what was about to happen, but still couldn't quite believe it when it did – as Ariel lowered her arms, the entire arch collapsed with a deafening roar, kicking up an enormous dust-cloud. Debris tumbled down into the gorge with a loud rumble.

"Follow me!" Camri said. He climbed off the side of the bridge onto the steep walls of the gorge. Looking above him, he could see Ariel doing the same. He slowly climbed down the rocky gorge then shimmied along until he was under the bridge.

There it was. A small wooden doorway, set into the rock underneath the bridge. Camri opened the door with one hand and climbed in, then took Ariel's arm and pulled her in behind him.

After crawling for a few metres, the pair emerged in a taller passageway, high enough to stand up in.

"What is this tunnel for?" Ariel asked.

"I have no idea" Camri replied. "Maybe it was built so we could get into the castle easily. Right, before we carry on you need to know what's happening. We're going to emerge in the jail. One of the cells in there has a trapdoor in it. It will be empty – it's always empty. If my map-reading skills are right, that trapdoor is what the map in the church was pointing to"

Soon, they reached a sturdy wooden door which signalled the end of the corridor. Camri took the key from his belt but hesitated before putting it in the hole.

"What's on the other side?" he whispered, turning to Ariel.

"We're safe" she replied. "The guard has just finished his patrol"

Camri turned the key in the keyhole and heard the lock spring open. Gradually, he pushed the door open. Torchlight from the jail flooded into the corridor.

"Over there" Camri said, pointing across the jail at an empty cell. "Now we just need to find a way of getting in there"

The pair crept out of the doorway into the prison, motioning all the prisoners to be quiet. They didn't want to alert the guards.

Ariel ran over to the gate of the cell they needed to get into, whilst Camri looked around the prison. It had been a while since he'd been in here. But then, someone caught his eye. A prisoner in one of the cells. It was a woman, someone who he recognised. She was the woman that they had brought into the Imperial City prison the night before Areen had broken him out. Camri approached her cell.

"How did you get here?" he asked her. "I saw them bring you to the Imperial City"

"They moved me" the woman replied. "Never explained why, just piled me into a caravan and I ended up in here"

"What did you do?"

"I got caught snooping around the barracks in Leyawiin. Like everyone else down there, I wanted to know why the entire Third Battalion has just been moved down to Blackwood"

"Blackwood, you say…" Camri said. "I think our paths have just crossed. I will come back for you"

"Hey! What about the rest of us?" a Bosmer shouted from another cell. "You gonna come back for us as well?"

"It depends if you want to associate with me" Camri said. "If they find out that I broke you out, they'll probably kill you"

"Why?"

"You remember the riots seven years ago? The ones that almost destroyed the city? I made them happen"

The prison fell into silence.

Ariel peered inside the lock of the cell gate then held her hand over the lock. A few seconds later, the lock yielded and the gate swung open. Ariel got up as Camri ran over to her.

"You moved all the tumblers and opened the lock…"

Ariel smiled at Camri. "You're starting to learn how I've managed to survive for so long"

------------

The pair descended through the trapdoor into a large stone room. It was cold and almost completely empty, lit only by a torch that Ariel had taken from the jail.

"What is this?" Camri asked, gazing around. Both their eyesights locked on one corner of the room – it was filled with books and scrolls, and a small desk.

"It's another place of research" Ariel said. "Remember what all these places we're being sent to are. Morahame, the church, they were places where the Marsh Spirit was being made, developed, whatever they were doing to it. And they kept moving because they kept being found out by the Empire"

"Hackdirt…" Camri said. "Hundreds of years ago it was raided by the Imperial Legion. They burnt the place to the ground, leaving only the church"

"Come on, let's see what's down here" Ariel said, walking towards the desk. On the desk was a small red book. Ariel opened it and began reading.

"It's a diary, written in Daedric" Ariel said. She turned to the last page and began to read out loud.

"The Empire are onto us. It was the explosions that alerted them to our presence. We thought that working right under their noses would somehow be safe, and it was until now. We are moving north, to a cave whose name I will not divulge. There, our work will continue"

"Is that it?"

"No, there's more but it's written in the Ayleid language… Where a lost god rests on her side, where you become free of the Empire's grasp"

"Is that what it says? That's helpful"

"It's a clue of some sort" Ariel said. "Remember what it said in the book in Hackdirt? Lost Meridia. There's a reference to it here as well…"

"Wait, go back to the first bit. Where did they say they were going?"

"To a cave north of here"

"And everything's written in Daedric… Oh, that's just not fair!"

"What?" Ariel asked, turning round.

"Me and a friend found that cave years ago. We found scrolls, written in Daedric. Then… Then my father burnt them all"


	7. The Servants of Destiny

**Chapter 7 – The Servants Of Destiny**

Areen and Horunn ran out of the tree-line onto the shores of the Rumare, the Imperial City standing proudly in the setting sunlight across the lake from them. The tracks hadn't been hard to follow – the two kidnappers had dragged Assurrani unconscious through the tall grass of the Imperial Reserve, leaving a wide path of flattened grass where they had carried him. Before following the trail, they had returned to Chorrol to buy several items that would be vital to their success – black hoods and leather masks to obscure their faces.

"By the way, it is nice to see you again" Areen said to Horunn. "I couldn't mention anything in front of the other two. They're not allowed to know what's going on"

"Likewise" Horunn replied. "I must say though, I'm not happy about letting them go off on their own. We were supposed to stay with them at all times"

"Yes, but the consequences have changed somewhat" Areen replied. "In a way, we are supposed to be looking out for all three of them. I wouldn't be surprised if we run into Sun shortly either"

"Who knows" Horunn said. "The tracks lead south… to that ruin"

Areen followed Horunn's gaze to an Ayleid ruin built on the shore. Most of the outside of the structure jutted out into the water, or was completely submerged. It was Fanacasecul, an Imperial facility where those who committed treason, or agents working against the Empire, were taken, retained, tortured for information and usually killed.

"We have to move fast" Areen said. "If they can't get information out of Assurrani then they'll kill him!"

--------------

_Villars' house, The Imperial City_

Villars drew a large circle on the map of Cyrodiil he had placed on the wall.

"This is northern Black Marsh, a region similar in geography to Morrowind. Rich in ebony and glass deposits"

He drew two more circles, one over southern Black Marsh and one over the deserts of Elsweyr.

"This region of Black Marsh is dense forest, rich in amber and Hist. The deserts of Elsweyr contain hordes of untapped gold lodes – almost ten million Septims' worth"

"And I imagine you're about to tell me that this is what General Seminus wants" Eldred said. "And I can see why. He'll control an enormous amount of resources…"

"There's another thing too. If he plays his game carefully and avoids killing too many of the people of Elsweyr and Argonia, but still takes over their nations, he will have an enormous amount of labour at his command"

"So he can mine all the gold…"

"Yes. And all the glass, ebony, amber, Hist, the lot"

"Why does General Seminus want all this wealth?"

"That remains to be seen. But this is what I have found out"

Villars held up one particularly old and worn pile of papers.

"The first War of the Niben was caused by exactly the same thing. The Empire wanted control of a resource, in this case, the Niben as a shipping route. The Argonians were developing some sort of weapon called the Marsh Spirit. Whatever it is, it was going to defeat the Imperial invaders and end the war. The mages developing it were killed by Imperial assassins, the secret of the Marsh Spirit lost forever, the war resolved by conventional means. But the mages always knew that the Empire would find them out sooner or later, so they constantly moved around, leaving the knowledge and research they had produced scattered around Cyrodiil.

"According to the notes Seminus had, one of their research facilities was located in the Ayleid ruin of Morahame, near Bravil. Another was located somewhere in the Imperial Reserve near Chorrol. Assurrani has been sighted in both Bravil and Chorrol, and we found him in the Imperial Reserve"

"And we know that he's working for General Seminus"

"Yes. So General Seminus is trying to find the Marsh Spirit. We have two choices. We can either try to stop him or we can find enough evidence to solidly prove what he's doing and get him thrown in the dungeon for life"

--------------

Areen and Horunn crept towards Fanacasecul, using the trees as cover. Two Imperial Legion soldiers were guarding a stairwell which presumably led down to the entrance to the ruin.

"What are they carrying?" Horunn asked.

"They've both got longswords but no ranged weapons" Areen replied. "But neither have we"

Horunn drew his sword. "Looks like we've got no choice then"

The pair ran out of the treeline and began walking quickly towards the stairwell.

"Stop! This is a restricted area!" one of the guards shouted at them. They kept moving forwards. The two guards drew swords and abandoned their posts, racing towards the pair.

"Go for the stairwell" Horunn said to Areen. "I'll catch up"

Areen ducked behind a white stone pillar, part of the surface ruins of Fanacasecul, as Horunn stood brandishing his sword and shield. One of the guards reached Horunn and thrust his sword at him. Horunn leapt to the side and avoided the blow, returning his own swordstroke, but the guard managed to block it with his shield. At the same time, Horunn swung his shield arm at the guard, his steel shield striking the guard in the side of the head and knocking him to the ground.

Meanwhile, Areen leapt out from the other side of the pillar and used his staff to trip up the other guard, sending him falling clumsily to the ground, then bolted for the stairwell.

As the guard who Areen had tripped got to his feet, Horunn leapt forward and drove his sword upward through the guard's nose into his brain, killing him instantly. The other guard was lying on the ground unconscious. Horunn followed Areen into the ruins.

-------------

_The West Weald, south of Skingrad_

Camri and Ariel rested on the south side of a small hill, out of view of the city. They had left Castle Skingrad the same way they had come in, through the secret passageway, and managed to slip past the guards under cover of darkness.

"That's it, then" Camri sighed. "We've reached a dead end. We can't go on"

"I have looked at everything we have found out so far" Ariel said. "And I'm afraid that you might be right. Lost Meridia. Where a lost god rests on her side, where you become free of the grasp of the Empire…"

"If only we had a way of recovering those scrolls"

"Maybe there is" Ariel said, looking at Camri. "Everything you saw will be in your memory, whether you know it or not"

"Excellent" Camri said sarcastically. "But how am I supposed to get it out?"

"Just think" Ariel replied. "Think as hard as you can"

"All I can remember were six Daedric runes written on the wall of the cavern. They turned up in a few of the scrolls too"

"Can you remember them?"

"Perhaps" Camri said. He pushed a rock nearby to one side, revealing a patch of dirt underneath it, then placed his finger in the dirt and began to draw.

"How did I do that?" Camri asked in amazement as he stood back. He had drawn the six Daedric runes in the dirt.

"We seem to become stronger, physically and mentally, when we are near each other," Ariel said. "When I made Assurrani fly down the corridor in Morahame. I've never been able to do that before"

"What does it say?" Camri asked, pointing at the runes.

Ariel examined them. "Gideon…"

"That's a town in Black Marsh" Camri replied. "It's right near the border with Cyrodiil, near Leyawiin"

------------

Areen ran through a dark corridor which slowly led downwards into Fanacasecul. He could hear Horunn far up the corridor behind him, but he didn't have time to stop and wait. They had to be in and out as quickly as possible.

He halted as he saw an intersection ahead of him. Two staircases led down further into the building, and the corridor carried on, slowly flattening out and emerging in a large chamber. A guard emerged from one of the staircases, crossed the corridor and descended the other staircase.

Areen drew one of his poisoned darts and ran down the corridor. Reaching the staircase, he turned and threw the dart down the dark passageway, hearing the sound of the dart piercing flesh, followed by a body hitting the ground. Areen leapt down the staircase, reaching the guard's paralysed body and locating a set of keys attached to his belt. Then, before the guard recovered from the poison, Areen ran back up into the main corridor, motioning Horunn past the two staircases.

Horunn looked at the keys in Areen's hand.

"What are they for?" he whispered.

"I'm guessing that wherever Assurrani is, he will be behind a locked door"

The pair continued down the passageway, emerging in the chamber. It was filled with cages containing prisoners, with several guards patrolling between them. One of the guards spotted Areen and Horunn.

"Intruders!" the guard shouted.

--------------

Lieutenant Brigan, a well-built Redguard working in Fanacasecul, strode into Assurrani's cell.

"So, are you ready to talk yet?"

Assurrani winced as he sat up. His skin was covered in cuts and bruises from where he had been beaten, and there was a large laceration on his arm from a dagger wound.

"You know, you could have made both our lives easier if you'd asked me that before you beat the shit out of me"

"Is that a yes?"

Assurrani nodded. "First, I ask that you tell me where I am"

"You're in Fanacasecul. I'm sure you've heard of it"

"You're holding a servant of the Empire in an Imperial facility?"

Brigan sat down next to Assurrani, his hand on the handle of his sheathed shortsword.

"But you're not an agent of the Empire, are you?"

"Yes I am! I am with General Seminus"

Brigan stood up again. "It may interest you to know that General Seminus does not always work with the interests of the Empire as his highest priority. I'd go as far as saying he's the most corrupt General in the Imperial Legion. I heard from Villars' men that you are under the impression that you are helping General Seminus wage war in the south?"

"A war sanctioned by the Empire!"

Brigan looked Assurrani in the eye.

"Falas, the Emperor did not give any orders to General Seminus, let alone anything regarding waging war!"

"Why has the entire Third Battalion been moved to Leyawiin then?"

"Because General Seminus has complete command over them! They are his personal army!"

Assurrani struggled to his feet. "The Morag Tong has always been an organisation that benefits the Empire. If what you are saying is true, I will stop working for Seminus and I will help you expose what he is doing. But how do I know that what you are saying is true?"

"I could ask you the same" Brigan replied. "How do I know that you won't slaughter every last person in here as soon as I give you your weapon back?"

Assurrani pointed to the Morag Tong tattoo on his arm. Brigan laughed to himself.

"You know, I never even asked you if you were in the Morag Tong. You told border watch that you were a blacksmith. We could keep you in here for lying on an official Imperial document. I'm afraid, Falas Assurrani, that for the time being, you're staying put. I will tell Villars what you have said. Perhaps he will let you go, perhaps he won't"

Assurrani lay down as Brigan left the cell. Was it true? Was Seminus really acting independently and trying to pass it off to him as Imperial business? He could see no other reason why the Empire would have captured and held him. And the Imperial and the Breton, and the Argonian and the Nord. They were trying to bring Seminus down too, but if what Brigan had said was true that made him on the same side as them. But they didn't know that. They would still try to kill him if he ever got out of Fanacasecul alive.

Suddenly, Assurrani heard a gruesome piercing sound and the sound of a body slumping to the ground. He snapped up to see Brigan lying on the ground, dead, blood pouring from a deep gash on his throat. Two figures wearing leather armour, hoods and masks ran up to his cell door. One produced a key and unlocked the cell, whilst the other took Brigan's sword and handed it to Assurrani.

"Get out" one of the figures said. "But don't follow us!"

As Assurrani picked up the sword, he was struck in the throat by a dart. Then, everything went black.

------------

Assurrani came round, Brigan's sword still in his hands. He saw one of the leather-clad figures far down the corridor plunge his sword into a guard then run off up a stairwell as two more guards emerged from a side-passage. Assurrani leapt to his feet and charged at the guards, brandishing the sword. As one raised his sword to swing it downwards at him, Assurrani thrust the sword sideways into the guard's plate-mail cuirass, ripping the plates apart, then quickly withdrew the sword and plunged it into the guard's abdomen. The other guard leapt at Assurrani, tackling him to the ground. He was pinned down by the weight of the guard's armour. The guard held his sword across Assurrani's throat.

"Surrender and there's a chance you won't die!" the guard said through bared teeth.

"Alright, I surrender" Assurrani said, dropping the sword. The guard got up from Assurrani, and as soon as he was free to move, Assurrani grabbed the guard's head with both hands until his neck broke.

-------------

Sunlight poured into the passageway. He had made it. The two leather-clad figures who had broken him out had killed almost all of the guards in Fanacasecul, and Assurrani had managed to avoid the rest by staying in the shadows. Soon, he emerged from the ruin. Dawn had just broken and the orange sunlight glimmered off the Rumare. Assurrani had never been so glad to breathe in fresh air in his life. Now he had one aim – to find out who General Seminus was really working for. He also wanted to know about the Imperial and the Breton. Were they trying to stop the Empire declaring war on the Argonians, or were they trying to help the Argonians win the war?


	8. Falas Assurrani

**Chapter 8 – Falas Assurrani**

"It's good to see you, Falas" General Seminus said as Assurrani walked into his room. "I thought I'd lost you there"

"Don't speak too soon" Assurrani snapped. "The Imperials told me a few things while they were holding me. And I want to know if they're true or not"

Seminus said nothing, instead just standing up from his desk and looking at Assurrani.

"You're not really working with the Empire, are you?" Assurrani asked him sternly.

"No, I'm not" Seminus replied. "They obviously told you that I'm doing this for my own personal gain, and it's true. I am trying to find the Marsh Spirit to wage war in the south and claim Argonia and Elsweyr for myself"

"Why?"

"Money, Falas. Both provinces are rich in valuable resources. Gold, glass, ebony, diamonds, you name it. And if I can get the Marsh Spirit, I can use it as a deterrent. The Argonians and Khajiit will surrender when they see the power we have. The more of them that remain alive, the more workers we have to tap into this wealth.

"Then, when I get all the money, I am going to use it to bankrupt the Empire and take it for myself"

"How are you going to do that?"

"I estimate there to be 5 million Septims' worth of gold and diamonds buried under Elsweyr. If I place all that on the market, the Septim will become worthless. There will be riots in every city as certain people realise they can buy enough weapons, armour and training to take on the Imperial presence in their cities. People like our man Camri Ebonheart. He almost caused total reform in Skingrad.

"While this is happening, Aldmeris and Akavir will stop trading with the Empire, because the Septim will be so weak they will not earn anything from doing it. Think of the chaos this will cause.

"The people of the Empire will want reform, an end to the chaos. And me, you and the Third Battalion will give them just that. And if anyone gets in the way, well, the Third Battalion will be equipped with glass and ebony equipment to prevent any trouble"

Assurrani nodded slowly. "It's a very detailed plan, I'll give you that"

"Thank you" Seminus said. "The question is, do you want to be part of it? Or are you still loyal to the Empire?"

------------

_Urshilaku Camp, The Ashlands, Vvardenfell, several years ago_

"Fifty years ago, the Erabenimsun tribe experienced something that caused them to become the most powerful of the Ashland tribes. They took our honour from us" Zanirabitti said to the two other tribesmen in his yurt. "Their corrupt Ashkhan and all his followers were killed"

"So, you're suggesting…" Alakir began before Zanirabitti cut him off.

"Yes I am" Zanirabitti said, turning to Assurrani.

"Falas, you are our most skilled fighter. And I know you don't like living here under Sun's command"

Assurrani nodded. What Zanirabitti said was true. The Urshilaku Ashkhan, Sun, was not a popular leader. A monk, the son of the previous Ashkhan who had succumbed to old age, he had been persuaded out of service with the Tribunal Temple to lead the Urshilaku tribe. However, his ways had become Imperialised. He often spoke of trading with the nearby towns of Dagon Fel and Maar Gan, and letting outlanders join the tribe. He wouldn't even tell the other tribesmen his name. They simply called him Sun.

"I'll do it" Assurrani said. "Might I suggest, sera, that it is done discreetly as opposed to me simply entering his yurt and slitting his throat"

"How do you mean?" Zanirabitti asked.

"When he goes out on one of his little trading trips to Maar Gan or Dagon Fel, I'll follow him and kill him in the wilderness where there are no witnesses. I don't think the people will react well to one of our own assassinating the Ashkhan. We need to make it look like he was killed by nature"

"You are a talented man, Falas Assurrani" Alakir said. "If anybody can do this, you can"

-------------

The next day, Assurrani sat in the entrance of his yurt, watching Sun walk west towards the mountains on his way to Maar Gan. He strapped the hilt containing his handmade ebony blade onto his belt, slung his bow over his back and stood up. As he began to walk through the camp, following Sun at a distance, another tribesman waved at him.

"Off somewhere, Falas?"

Falas turned to the tribesman. "Yes, I'm going to the abandoned ebony mines. I'm making a sword for Zanirabitti"

------------

Sun reached the mountains, ducking down as he ran through the deadland between the ruins of Assurnabitashpi and Druscathi, trying to avoid being seen by the Daedra and vampires who inhabited them. He spied the pass into the Foyada that led south to Maar Gan.

As he walked through the pass, he heard the faint sound of gravel crunching under boots through the crisp air. Good. Assurrani was following him.

Sun turned round, his arms held up in surrender.

"Do not kill me yet, Assurrani" Sun called. "Let me talk to you first"

Assurrani emerged from behind a boulder, lowering his bow and returning an arrow to his quiver. He cautiously approached Sun.

"Assurrani, what do you know of the Morag Tong?" Sun asked him.

"They're the guild of assassins who work with the government" Assurrani replied. "They're highly secretive even though everyone knows of their existence"

"You are right about how highly secretive they are" Sun replied. He pulled up the sleeve of his fur coat, revealing a tattoo on his forearm. It was the emblem of the Morag Tong.

"You're Morag Tong?" Assurrani asked in disbelief. Sun nodded.

"That's right. And I have a proposition for you…"

"You want me to join?"

"Yes. The Morag Tong have wanted you as a member for a very long time. We thought that by infiltrating your tribe we could find a way of persuading you to join. We know that you don't enjoy being an Ashlander. We know you're very good at killing people. We headhunt in more ways than one, Falas. Eno Hlaalu himself gave me the order to find you and persuade you to join our guild"

Assurrani turned around, looking across the desolate Ashlands back towards his home.

"I'll do it"

--------------

_South of the Imperial City, the present day_

Camri, Ariel, Horunn and Areen walked quickly through the undergrowth at the side of the road. They were returning to Veyond Cave, having been re-united by chance on the Rumare ring road. They were going to make a short stop for the night before following the directions from Skingrad, to the Argonian town of Gideon.

Areen was on point, leading the group and constantly looking around. Suddenly, he froze.

"Torchlight coming down the road from the Imperial City" he said. "Their speed suggests they're on horseback, riding slowly"

"Legion patrol" Camri said. "We'd better hide"

----------

A few minutes later, three Imperial Legion horsemen rode past. Camri noticed something on the back of one of the horses. A prisoner, bound and gagged. In the torchlight, he recognised her face.

"That prisoner!" Camri whispered to the others. "I need to talk to her! Take the horsemen down!"

Camri and Areen leapt from cover, Areen using his wooden staff to trip the nearest horse, sending it tumbling to the ground, throwing its rider down onto the road.

"Ambush!" one of the other soldiers shouted. The other two soldiers leapt off their horses and drew their swords, whilst Camri plunged his sword into the throat of the fallen rider.

Horunn emerged from the bushes, joining Camri and Areen as they formed up against the two soldiers. One of the soldiers slashed wildly at Areen, who blocked the blow with his wooden staff. The staff snapped clean in two under the force of the impact, leaving Areen with two wooden clubs, one in each hand. He smashed the soldier in the side of the head with one, and delivered a powerful blow to his arm with the other, disarming him. As soon as he had done so, Camri leapt forward, grabbed the soldier's helmet and twisted it until his neck broke.

As Horunn ran to face the second soldier, there was a loud _Vvvip! _as an arrow sailed through the night air, missing Horunn by inches. It had come from the trees on the other side of the road.

"Foresters!" Camri shouted. "Areen, follow me!"

Camri raised his shield, reeling as an arrow slammed into it, sending splinters of wood falling to the ground. Camri saw the foresters. Two of them, hiding in the trees, almost completely camouflaged in their leather armour and green hoods.

"One each!" Camri called to Areen. "Come on!"

The pair began to race towards the treeline, Camri using his shield to block arrows and Areen simply leaping to one side and dodging them. As Camri reached the treeline, he thrust his sword straight into the chest of one of the foresters.

Horunn parried with the final Imperial Legion solder. The soldier was encumbered by heavy steel armour and was becoming fatigued. As the soldier delivered one final weak, pathetic swordstroke, Horunn easily blocked it and swung his sword sideways, hewing the soldier's head from his body.

Suddenly, Horunn was knocked back as he felt a searing pain in his chest. He looked down, horrified, seeing an arrow jutting from his abdomen, blood seeping through his chainmail cuirass. He staggered then fell to the ground.

"Horunn's hit!" Camri shouted, turning round and bolting back onto the road just as Areen drew his dagger from his belt and hurled it at the forester, the dagger embedding itself in the Forester's forehead and killing him before he knew what had happened.

Ariel and Camri both ran over to Horunn and dropped down by his side. Camri examined the wound. Horunn was beginning to pass out, rolling his head around and quietly moaning to himself.

"I can heal this but I'll need clean water" he said. "We need to get back to the cave, now! Get him on one of the horses!"

As Ariel and Areen gradually got Horunn to his feet, the arrow still protruding from his chest, Camri ran over to the prisoner, who had been knocked off the horse in the chaos. Camri ripped away the cloth that was gagging her.

"You again!" Camri exclaimed. He was right – it was the Imperial woman from the Imperial City jail and Castle Skingrad junction. "Meeting twice is coincidence. Meeting three times is not. We need to talk"

------------

_Vivec City, Morrowind, a few weeks earlier_

"Falas, I've got a job for you" Sun said, walking into Assurrani's quarters in the Morag Tong guildhall. "It's an important one, and it will be very time-consuming, but I believe you will be up to it"

"What do you need me to do?" Assurrani asked.

"You will be representing both the Morag Tong and the Empire. You need to travel to the Imperial City in Cyrodiil, and meet with General Anvius Seminus of the Imperial Legion. He will instruct you further, but he has told me that this is a very important matter. By the sounds of it, you will be hunting down and killing a group of people who threaten the good of the Empire"

"I can think of a problem already" Assurrani said. "How am I meant to get past border patrol? The Morag Tong are forbidden to operate outside Morrowind"

"Remember what you told Krenaia the day you followed me out into the wilderness? Do you remember where you told him you were going?"

"To the ebony mines" Assurrani replied. "I told him I was gathering ebony to forge a sword for Zanirabitti"

"There's your answer" Sun replied. "If you are up to this task, you will be able to solve this simple problem"

--------------

_Luther Broad's Boarding House, The Imperial City, the present day_

As Assurrani finished the pint of ale, he had reached a decision. He was not going to let Seminus wage war in the South. He was not going to help the corrupt general anymore. But he wasn't going to join in with the Imperial and help the Argonians declare war on the Empire. He was going to find the Marsh Spirit and destroy it. But that meant espionage. General Seminus was his best link to the Marsh Spirit. He would have to pretend he was on Seminus' side for as long as possible. And after all this was over, he was going to find out who broke him out of Fanacasecul.

------------

"I've thought about it" Assurrani said to Seminus. "I will help you find the Marsh Spirit and wage war in the south"

Seminus walked over to Assurrani and put his hand on his shoulder. "I knew I could rely on you, my friend"

"Do you know where they are? The Imperial and the Breton, that is"

"I'm afraid not. We've lost them" Seminus replied. "You might try Veyond Cave again"

------------

_Veyond Cave_

Ariel sat down the Imperial prisoner in the main cavern of Veyond.

"I'm sure you know that we mean you no harm" Ariel said. "First, what is your name?"

"I am Lunia Macria" the woman replied.

"Ariel Lassaile" Ariel replied. "Camri believes it is not coincidence that our paths keep crossing. Do you believe in fate?"

"Not until the Empire kept moving me around" Lunia replied. "When I saw Camri for the third time I began to wonder if maybe our paths were meant to intertwine. Where are you travelling to?"

"To Argonia, to the town of Gideon"

Lunia gasped in shock. "You cannot go to Argonia! The Third Battalion has the entire border closed! You'll never get through!"

At that moment, Areen walked up to them and sat down next to them.

"I'm afraid she's telling the truth, Ariel. Sudana just told me"

"Did she tell you anything else?" Ariel asked him. Areen looked at her gravely.

"We need to move fast. The Legion have been making hit-and-run raids into Argonia to weaken their defences. It can only be a few days before they attack"

"But will they attack without the Marsh Spirit?"

"It's not a risk we can take. We will talk about this later, though. You have work to do"

Ariel turned back to face Lunia.

"It seems you don't know what part you play in this, so we must find out" Ariel said. "What do you do for a living?"

"I am a researcher for the Guild of Mages"

"So why did you get arrested for spying in the Leyawiin guard quarters?"

"Because if the Empire has sent an entire battalion down to Leyawiin when there is no national crisis or other reason for going to war, they are looking for something important. Something the Guild of Mages will probably be interested in"

Ariel opened her eyes widely. "The Guild of Mages spies on the Legion?"

"We've done it for a long time" Lunia said. "A few years ago we saw the Legion raid a cave by the Imperial Prison, apparently there was a gang of rogue agents who were sneaking into the Imperial Prison. It turns out they uncovered an Ayleid shrine to Meridia in there. It made for some very interesting research"

_Where you become free of the grasp of the Empire._

_Lost Meridia._

Ariel leapt up and ran further into the cave.

"Camri!"


	9. We Are Bandini

**Chapter 9 – We Are Bandini**

Camri sighed as he stood up from the unconscious Horunn's side.

"It's an old rusty arrow. All the crap that's built up on the arrowhead is poisoning his blood. But if I take it out his lung will collapse"

Sudana looked at Horunn. "I can cure the blood poisoning. But he's bleeding internally, and there is nothing I can do about that"

"I don't know what to do…" Camri said. "I should take out the arrow and end his suffering. But I can't do it. I can't kill him. Damnit, we're going to try and save him!"

"How? You just basically said it was impossible"

"Go to your alchemy store. Mix up some lichen and tree sap so we can plug the hole in his lung. And get the antivenom so we can cure the blood poisoning"

"You realise it is very likely that this won't work?"

Camri turned to face Sudana. "If Horunn is going to die, it is going to be in my hands, not in the grip of a slow, agonising death!"

A few minutes later, Sudana returned with a pestle filled with a thick, sticky mixture and a phial containing a pale yellow potion.

Camri opened Horunn's mouth and Sudana poured the antivenom in. Horunn's swallowing reflex took hold and he swallowed the liquid.

"Alright, I'm going to pull out the arrow. We need to plug the wound in his lung, then the hole in his chest"

Camri took a deep breath as he placed both his hands around the arrow's shaft, then pulled it quickly out of Horunn's chest. Blood began to spurt from the hole in his lung as the air inside it blew out of the hole. Sudana scooped out a handful of the mixture and coated the hole in Horunn's lung with it.

"His chest cavity has deflated!" Camri cried. "Seal that other hole up, quickly!"

"It's too big! I don't have enough left!"

Camri put his lips around Horunn's mouth and blew into it. He saw Horunn's lungs inflate. Then nothing happened.

"Camri…" Sudana said solemnly, two fingers on Horunn's wrist.

"_Camri!"_

They both heard Ariel's voice from the main cavern.

"I'll tell her" Camri said, placing a hand on Horunn's forehead. "Talos guide you, Horunn"

Ariel saw Camri step out into the main cavern from Sudana's quarters. She could see a tear welling up in one of his eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Ariel…"

Ariel fell to her knees and burst into tears. Camri sat down next to her and put his arm around her.

"All my life he's looked after me" Ariel cried. "And now he's gone! What am I going to do?"

"I'll look after you, Ariel" Camri said. "Fate brought us together, and I am going to make sure no more harm comes to you. We are going to find the Marsh Spirit and defeat the Empire. Horunn did not die for nothing"

Ariel wiped her eyes and stood up. "I need to be alone, Camri. Go and ask Lunia about the cave by the Imperial prison"

Camri stood up and embraced Ariel, then placed his hands on her face and kissed her gently on the lips. "Remember, I'm here for you"

Ariel smiled weakly at Camri but said nothing, then walked past him further into the cave.

Camri walked into the main cavern. Areen approached him.

"Are you OK?" Camri asked him. Areen nodded.

"Horunn was a good man. It's a shame his life had to end like this. You did your best, Camri. Without you we wouldn't even have got this far"

Camri put his hand on Areen's shoulder. "Thank you, friend. Ariel said you've found something out"

"Yes, she did" Lunia called from across the cave. She walked over to Camri and Areen.

"I'm so sorry about your friend" she said comfortingly. "I understand if you all need time alone"

"No, we need you" Camri said. "What was Ariel about to tell me?"

"I'm not entirely sure" Lunia replied. "But when she got up I'd been telling her about a cave on City Isle, near that tunnel that leads into the Imperial Jail, and how the Mages' Guild had found a lost shrine to Meridia in there.

"Lost Meridia…" Camri said. "Where you become free of the Empire's grasp… What's the name of the cave?"

"I believe it's called Sideways Cave" Lunia said. "At least, that's what it's on all the maps as. The old Ayleid settlement buried in there is called Abagarlas. It means 'Forbidden Cavern'"

"Camri, that must be it!" Areen exclaimed. "That's where all the clues are leading to! It's the end of the trail!"

"Sideways Cave… Where a lost god sleeps on her side… you're right!"

"We should get there before that damn Dunmer does" Areen said.

"No, we will go when Ariel is ready" Camri said. "She has come this far with us, I am not going to leave her behind. I swore to protect her"

--------------

Falas Assurrani was about to walk through the gates of the Imperial City onto City Isle, on his way to Veyond Cave, when he heard his name being called.

"_Mr Assurrani!"_

Assurrani turned and saw a guard running towards him. His cuirass bore the Third Battalion emblem – he was one of Seminus' men.

"General Seminus said to give this to you"

Assurrani took a piece of paper from the guard's hand.

"Thank you" he said, opening the paper.

_Falas,_

_Before my research was stolen I was onto a lead. Just after you left I cracked it. Sideways Cave, just east of the Imperial Prison, could contain something very important. There are a lot of references to Meridia and plagues in every book I can find about the cave, so make sure you're well prepared._

_This could be what we have been looking for. _

_Godspeed to you,_

_Anvius_

-----------------

Across the city, Eldred turned to the prisoner tied up in Villars' house.

"Villars should have had time to reach Assurrani by now" Eldred said. "You're free to go"

Eldred removed the gag from around the prisoner's mouth and undid the binds tied around his ankles and wrists. Him and Villars had intercepted the Third Battalion soldier as he had left the Tiber Septim hotel. They had found a note on him intended for Assurrani.

"If you wanted Assurrani to get the note" the guard said, "Why did you bother taking me prisoner? You won't achieve anything other than knowing his plans"

"Tell Seminus that Assurrani received the note" Eldred replied. "And let him know we're on to him. It will be interesting to see what he does next"

At that moment, Villars emerged through the front door. He removed the Third Battalion uniform and cast it to the ground near the guard's feet.

"Sideways Cave, then" Villars said. "Let's hope we can catch Assurrani before he finds anything"

---------------

Camri sat in the main cavern of Veyond Cave, sharpening his sword.

"This is it" he said to Areen. "As soon as we're ready, we can go and find the Marsh Spirit. Your people are about to get back what is rightfully theirs"

"It will be a good day for Argonia" Areen replied. "But I must tell you this. As soon as we find the Marsh Spirit, I must return to Argonia as quickly as I can and fight alongside my people"

"You're not going anywhere without me" Camri said. "I have come this far with you. We will fight the Empire together"

Camri held his sword up and inspected it.

"Well, this is it. Areen, you know that once we do this we will be banished from the Empire for eternity. Our lives will completely change"

"I know" Areen said. "But that's the price I am willing to pay for my nation"

"You are a brave man fighting for a noble cause, Areen" Camri said. "I'm glad I became involved in this"

"What about Ariel?"

"I'll go and talk to her"

As Camri left the room, Sudana walked up to Areen.

"I hear you may have found the Marsh Spirit" she said to him.

"It makes sense. All the clues do seem to lead to this cave"

"I must return to Black Marsh now, Areen" Sudana said. "Come and find me in the council houses in Gideon. Thank you very much for all your help"

"Godspeed to you, Sudana" Areen said. "We have done great things for Argonia these past few days"

--------------

As Camri walked into Ariel's chamber, she was lying on her bedroll. She had been asleep, but Camri's footsteps had awoken her.

"Hello, Camri" she said, getting to her feet.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you" Camri said.

"I had another dream" Ariel said. "The Third Battalion are preparing to attack. We don't have much time"

"If you're ready, we're going to leave" Camri said. "How are you feeling?"

"There will be a time for mourning Horunn but that time is now now" Ariel replied. "Assurrani is not far behind us. We should leave now, and Lunia needs to come with us"

"You're taking this very well" Camri said, putting an arm around Ariel. "Are you sure you don't need more time?"

"I have known for a long time that I will live to see Horunn's death. He always said he would give his life for me, and now he has. I will miss him, but he brought me here, to you"

Ariel kissed Camri on the lips then placed both her arms around him.

-------------

_The shores of Lake Rumare, near Sideways Cave_

Areen led the group consisting of himself, Camri, Ariel and Lunia across the shingle to where the tunnel leading into the Imperial Jail was located, the exact same place him and Camri had emerged from when he had first broken him out of jail.

"This looks like it" Areen said, pointing to a narrow cave entrance between two large rocks. Then, he noticed a series of footprints going into the cave.

"We're not alone" Camri said, also seeing the footprints. "These were made by heavy boots. So it's not a casual explorer and it's not Assurrani…"

"Then who is it?"

Camri turned to face Areen. "I should have probably told you this a long time ago, but I have suspicions about who Assurrani is working for"

"He's working for the Empire" Areen said. "He opposes our every move"

"Yes, but then why did you and Horunn have to break him out of an Imperial prison? I don't think he's working for the Empire"

"Then who is he working for?"

"Think about it. There are three parties in the war. The Empire, the Argonians and those who don't want the war to happen at all. Maybe he's the latter. Whatever the case is, if these bootprints belong to the Imperial Legion things are about to get dangerous"

Suddenly, Areen leapt back as he heard a bow's drawstring being pulled inside the cave.

"Don't worry. My men won't fire until I tell them to" A voice came from behind some rocks nearby.

The four looked around. Five Imperial Legion soldiers, all carrying bows which they were aiming at the group, leapt out of cover. They were surrounded.

A man dressed in Guard Captain's uniform emerged from behind cover.

"You're looking for the Marsh Spirit" he said. "But I'm afraid I can't let you go any further"

"What, so you can take the Marsh Spirit for yourself?" Camri retorted.

"Let me introduce myself" the man said. "I am Commander Tertius Villars of the Imperial Legion. We are not here to take the Marsh Spirit. We are here to prevent anyone else from taking it"

"Pull the other one" Areen said. "The Empire means to take it to wage war against my people in the South"

"No, General Seminus means to take it to wage war on your people" Villars said. "The Empire does not condone what he is doing. We mean to destroy the Marsh Spirit, and catch his agent red-handed so we can prove to the Emperor what Seminus is plotting"

"Commander, will you give me a minute?" Camri said, turning to the rest of the group.

"We've come this far" Ariel whispered. "We can't stop now"

"Ariel's right" Areen said. "An army is preparing to invade Argonia as we speak, regardless of who is in charge of them"

Camri nodded and turned to face Villars.

"We are going to enter this cave and find the Marsh Spirit, and use it to defeat General Seminus and reclaim the eastern shores of the Niben for Argonia. And we're not going down without a fight"

Villars stepped up to Camri. "I have four archers, all aiming at your heads. As soon as I give the order to fire, you will all be dead"

Camri turned to Ariel. "Can you handle the arrows?"

"Yes" Ariel replied. With that, everything happened at once.

Camri leapt forward, shoulder-barging Villars to the ground. The five archers who were all aiming at the group fired at once, but Ariel raised her hands and the five arrows all stopped in mid-air. With a flick of Ariel's wrists, the arrows turned round and flew back towards the archers, striking them all in their foreheads and killing them. Camri drew his sword then held it across Villars' throat.

"Do your worst" Villars spat.

"Alright" Camri said calmly. He thrust the sword down, severing Villars' head from his body.

"There's one in the cave still" Areen said to him. Camri took his bow, drew an arrow and aimed into the mouth of the cave.

"Surrender and your life will be spared!" Camri called into the cave. Slowly, a figure emerged from the cave. It was a Dunmer man, wearing leather armour and seemingly unarmed.

"You got me" the Dunmer said. "I surrender"

"What do you know about Assurrani?" Camri asked him. "Is he on his way?"

"We saw him going towards Cheydinhal, presumably to gather supplies. Must want the stuff being imported from Morrowind. But then he's going to make his way to this cave"

"Thank you. You're free to go"

"I'm going to stay here" the Dunmer said. "I want to talk to Assurrani. He knows that General Seminus isn't working for the Empire. It will be interesting to see exactly what he wants to do"

"Stay out of sight or he'll kill you" Areen said. "And don't try to follow us in, or we'll do the same"

With that, the group left the Dunmer and walked into the cave.


	10. The Forbidden Halls

**Chapter 10 – The Forbidden Halls**

Led by Camri, the group walked through Sideways Cave, the way lit only by a torch held by Camri. The floor of the cavern was coated in a thick layer of dust. There had been bootprints in it, but they had stopped a few yards into the cave, where the Dunmer had been hiding. Evidently no-one else had set foot in this cave for a long time. The silence was eerie, almost haunting.

"What are we actually looking for?" Areen whispered.

"Some sort of Ayleid structure" Lunia said from the back of the group. "When the Mages' Guild found it, the entrance was sealed. Maybe it has been re-sealed, who knows"

"We'll re-seal it" Camri said. "It will stop Assurrani from following us. Ariel, is there anything in here?"

Ariel looked around, scanning for purple blotches in her vision caused by her life-detection spell.

"No, it's empty" Ariel replied. "Completely empty"

As they walked down the cave, side-passages led off it, leading to dead ends, rockfalls and vast, yawning chasms. However, Camri was keeping to his natural instinct of navigation and continuing in a straight line.

"Look at this" he said, pointing at one of the walls of the cavern. Whilst the floor, the other wall and the ceiling were rough and coated in dust, one wall was smooth and pale, as if it had had water running over it in the past.

"I guess this cave lives up to its name. This wall is an old waterway. It's as if the entire cave has turned onto its side"

"That means we're looking in the wrong place" Ariel said. "I'm guessing that the passageway leading to Abagarlas was originally on a horizontal plane. Now it will be vertical"

Ariel pointed up. There was a shaft vaulting up into the rock above them. At the top of the shaft, dimly illuminated by the light from Camri's torch, was a door.

"How do we get up there?" Lunia asked.

"We climb" Camri said, inspecting the shaft. "It's narrow, the rock's rough. We should be able to get up it"

Camri handed his torch to Areen, then leapt up and grabbed two handholds in the shaft. Pulling himself up, he was able to climb the rough surface of the shaft like a ladder, his back pressed against the opposite wall.

------------

"What in the name of the Nine Divines happened in here?" Camri said to himself as he emerged in an enormous cavern. Areen emerged next to him and took in the sight.

The cavern was almost completely taken up by an Ayleid building. It looked like some sort of fortress, albeit one whose outer wall was in a bad state of disrepair. A grand archway vaulted over a wide stairway, which led up to a door leading into unknown depths. Each side of the stairway, waterfalls poured down from two shafts cut into the cavern wall, flooding the bottom of the cavern. And there was something else remarkable about the cavern – it was absolutely covered in tree roots. They sprouted out of the walls and floor of the cavern, coating the floor completely, and growing out of cracks in the walls of the Ayleid building. The whole cavern was bathed in an eerie blue light, coming from the glowing blue crystals that were often found in underground Ayleid buildings.

"Look at that" Areen said, pointing across the cavern. Atop a pillar built on the cavern floor, entwined in tree roots, was a statue of the Daedric Princess Meridia.

"This must be the right place" Camri said. "Remember all those references to Meridia? There she is. Stay alert, we don't know who or what lives here now"

------------

Eldred paced nervously around the entrance to Sideways Cave. This wasn't good. Assurrani should have been here by now.

Suddenly, he felt a powerful arm grab him from behind, and a blade was held across his throat.

"Hello, Assurrani" Eldred said coolly.

"What are you doing here?" Assurrani asked.

"I am here purely to find out what you are doing here" Eldred replied. "You can see I'm unarmed. You can lower your sword"

Eldred felt Assurrani's grip relieve. He stepped forwards and turned round to face Assurrani.

"Who are you?" Assurrani asked him. "How did you know my name?"

"We've been on your tail ever since you first met General Seminus" Eldred replied. "Myself and Commander Villars... We were the ones who captured you and tried to hold you in Fanacasecul. I'm afraid the Imperial and his group beat you to it"

"And they let you live?"

"Clearly they didn't see me as a threat. Now, Falas, I must ask you. What do you intend to do if and when you find the Marsh Spirit? Don't worry, our aim was to stop General Seminus, not you"

"I am going to destroy it. I know it's too late to stop General Seminus and his men invading Argonia but my guess is that whatever the Marsh Spirit is, it will do more harm than good"

Assurrani looked Eldred up and down. "You're a Buoyant Armiger, aren't you?"

Eldred nodded. "How did you know?"

"I just did" Assurrani replied. He drew a dagger from his belt and handed it to Eldred. "Come on. I'm sure your objective is the same as mine"

"They've left a very obvious trail" Eldred said. "It won't take us long to catch up with them"

--------------

The four approached the large doorway that led into the Ayleid building. Camri tried the door handle, finding that the door opened easily.

"Well, we haven't found the sealed entrance yet" he said. He flung the door open, expecting some awful creature to come leaping out of the darkness at him, but nothing happened. A wide corridor led into the structure, dimly lit by blue crystals.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang from nearby. It came from behind them. It was the door at the top of the shaft being thrown open.

"Form up!" Camri shouted, drawing his bow and aiming at the cavern that led to the shaft. Areen drew his new weapon, a silver mace bought from a smith in the Imperial City. Lunia had also been armed with a shortsword, which she drew from her belt.

Camri expected Assurrani to leap out of the cavern, but someone else did. A Dunmer, dressed in leather armour, holding a dagger. It was Villars' man.

"Damnit, we should have killed him!" Areen said under his breath.

"He wasn't a threat then" Camri replied. "But I agree he is now"

Behind the Dunmer, another figure emerged. Assurrani. Assurrani lost no time in drawing his own bow and firing across the hall. The arrow soared across the cavern straight towards the group. Instinctively, Ariel held up her hands and the arrow stopped in mid-air, inches from striking Lunia in the forehead. Camri returned fire, striking the other Dunmer in the chest and knocking him to the ground.

"Everybody into the building! Now!" Camri shouted, firing another arrow which passed over Assurrani's head by inches. He began shepherding Ariel and Lunia through the open doorway, whilst Areen hurled a poisoned dart across the hall. It struck the advancing Assurrani in the thigh, paralysing him for a few seconds. That was all the time he needed to follow the other three into the building and close the door behind him.

"Move! Move!" Camri shouted, racing through the corridor with the other three following him.

"Watch for traps, Camri!" Areen called from behind him. Ayleid buildings, especially those that served a special purpose such as Abagarlas, were always laced with booby-traps. But Camri knew this. He had explored enough Ayleid ruins to know how to defeat them, knowledge he had passed on to Areen, Ariel and Lunia.

The wide corridor shrank down into a narrower one, with several dangerous-looking vertical slits carved into the walls.

"Swinging blades" Camri called back as he ran. "Ariel, you ready?"

Ariel ran up alongside Camri as he stepped on a trigger stone, causing several razor-sharp blades, moving in a pendulum-like motion, to swing out of the gaps in the walls. As they reached the height of their swings, Ariel froze them in mid-air. As the group ran through the stationary blades, the door of Abagarlas was thrown open as Assurrani caught up with them. When Areen had passed through the blades, Ariel let them fall back into their swing.

Further down the corridor, Camri snagged a trip-wire. Right in front of him, darts began firing out of blowholes in the walls at chest-height. Had he not stopped as soon as he snagged the trip-wire, the hundreds of darts would have shredded him to pieces. Camri dived to the ground and rolled under the stream of darts, prompting the other three to do the same.

-----------

Assurrani carefully ran past each swinging blade, timing his run as the blade swung by him back up into its recess. Soon, he was clear of them but he knew the others would be far ahead by now. Rounding the corner, he saw the dart trap and rolled underneath it, running as fast as he could down the corridor.

Soon he reached a channel with a torrent of water flowing down it crossing the corridor. He saw the Argonian disappearing into a corridor the other side of it, an old plank of wood leaning against the opposite wall of the waterway. It must have been how the others crossed the waterway, then they had moved it so he couldn't follow them.

He saw the Argonian watching him coldly from the corridor beyond.

"_Areen! Come on!" _he heard a voice which he guessed belonged to the Breton.

"No. Tell Camri to come here. I might need him" the Argonian replied.

Assurrani backed a few paces back into the corridor.

"No!" the Argonian cried suddenly. "Don't jump! You won't make it!"

Assurrani ignored him, ran at the waterway and jumped. Before he jumped, he guessed it to be about four metres wide.

He made three, before he plunged into the foaming torrent and was swept underwater, dragged along the channel by the current.

"Camri!" Areen yelled. He took off his robe, revealing black leather armour underneath it, and dived into the waterway, grabbing Assurrani. Desperately, he tried to fight the current and get a handhold on the edge of the waterway. He could see Assurrani trying to do the same. But as he was dragged underwater, he saw something. The channel seemed to end, about twenty metres in front of them.

Or at least, the water did. There was what looked like a wall of white water approaching them.

Areen quickly realised he was looking at the top of a waterfall.

Still holding onto Assurrani with one hand, he kicked as powerfully as he could away from the waterfall. He couldn't fight the current, but he could slow himself down. But it was no good. Soon, Areen and Assurrani were swept over the edge of the waterfall.

As he fell, Areen saw the ceiling of the huge cavern that Abagarlas was built in. He realised where he was. It was one of the waterfalls that cascaded off the roof of the building, into the underwater lake. And the fall was at least fifty feet. There was no way they were going to survive…

Suddenly, Areen felt a sharp jerk as a force from the side slammed into him. Then, he felt two strong arms wrap around him. Still holding on to Assurrani, he turned round.

It was Camri, holding on to a thick vine. Several of them were growing out of the ceiling of the cavern. He had grabbed one and swung out across the waterfall to save Areen and Assurrani.

Areen grabbed onto the vine, and Assurrani did the same. Eventually, the three of them made it to the opposite side of the waterway, where they needed to be. Areen and Assurrani lay on the ground, coughing and spluttering, spitting out all the water that had found its way into their lungs. As Assurrani began to sit up, Camri pinned him to the ground and poured a mouthful of Areen's paralysis potion into Assurrani's mouth, holding his nose and forcing him to swallow the potion.

"How much did you give him?" Areen asked as Assurrani's limp body fell to the ground.

"A mouthful" Camri replied.

"He'll be out for a few minutes" Areen said. "Come on!"

"I sent Lunia and Ariel ahead" Camri said. "They should have cleared the way by now"

-------------

Ariel ran along the dark corridor, Lunia close behind her. Camri had told her to carry on. She trusted him for one reason. She had seen a vision of Camri and Areen running down a tunnel, Assurrani close behind them. They had not yet been in that tunnel. It was yet to happen, but it was going to happen.

As the corridor widened out, the pair encountered more traps. An enormous metal beam swung down at them, but Ariel froze it in mid-air. A zombie burst out of a false door, but Lunia cut it down with her sword.

Soon, they reached a hall with a stairway leading up to a closed door. The stairway was lined with pedestals containing Varla stones – this was something important.

Soon, Camri and Areen emerged in the hall.

"What happened?" Ariel asked him.

"He's still alive. We've got a few minutes before he's onto us again. And when he does, we're in trouble. He must have realised by now that we are trying to keep him alive. But he will still be trying to kill us. What have you found?"

"This" Ariel said, pointing through the now-open door. A perfectly square, perfectly straight tunnel led into unknown darkness.

"Where does it go?"

"Me and Lunia walked a good hundred yards down it. It just kept going. Wherever it goes, it's somewhere far away"

Camri walked up to the tunnel and faced down it, holding his compass. He turned to Ariel, a look of shock and revelation on his face.

"It points right to Black Marsh!"

------------

Eldred staggered up to the two guards manning the gate leading into the Market District, an arrow jutting from just below his collarbone.

"By the Nine!" one of the guards exclaimed, running over to Eldred and helping him stand. "What happened to you?"

"I need to speak to a commanding officer!"

"My friend, you may be injured but we don't let anyone speak to the generals!"

Eldred looked at the guard. "My name is Eldred Moravahn, Buoyant Armiger of the Tribunal Temple of Morrowind. I have been working with Commander Villars to find out why General Seminus has deployed the entire Third Battalion to the south. He means to wage war on the Argonians. But as soon as they attack, the Argonians will unleash a secret weapon and defeat Seminus' men. But the Argonians think that the Empire itself is invading them. They will fight back and take everywhere south of Bravil for themselves! And our last hope of stopping the Argonians getting this secret weapon is pursuing agents of Argonia through Sideways Cave! We need to help him!"

The guard turned to his comrade. "Fetch a healer, and get someone else to fetch General Imius. Tell him it's bloody urgent!"

------------

Soon, twenty Imperial agents were racing through Abagarlas. They were all members of the Expeditionary Force, expert explorers and tomb-raiders. They had encountered traps like those in Abagarlas many-a-time.

They stopped each swinging blade by wedging a block of iron into each groove whilst the blades were at the top of their swing.

One held a shield across the blowholes, stopping the stream of darts.

They used a telekinetic staff to retrieve the bridge that would let them cross the waterway. Then, they reached the doorway leading into the tunnel. But they had found no-one yet, not even the body of Assurrani.


	11. Nothing You Can Possess

**Chapter 11 – Nothing You Can Possess**

Three parties were running as fast as they could down the tunnel that seemed to lead to Black Marsh.

Camri, Ariel, Areen and Lunia, at the front of the race.

Behind them, very slowly catching up, Assurrani.

And the Expeditionary Force, along with Eldred Moravahn, who had just entered the tunnel.

"I can see light!" Camri called from the front of his group. Ariel saw it too – a tiny speck of light at the end of the tunnel. They were almost there.

The group burst out into brilliant midday sun. They were in a large clearing, surrounded by tall trees, which led onto mountains. Mountains that completely surrounded the clearing.

"Where are we, Areen?" Camri asked.

"I think I know" Areen replied. "There's a mountain range in the north of Black Marsh, near the Morrowind border. They're called the Barrier Mountains, for the simple reason that they are completely unpenetrable. The only passes between the peaks are at altitudes so high that any climber dies of asphyxiation. And the rock is too hard for our miners to bore through. Nobody knows what lies in the centre of them"

"Apart from us" Camri said. "Look at that!"

At the other end of the clearing was a strange fortress-like structure, forged from a brown-purple rock, made from strange, twisting pillars and arches surrounding a central tower. Atop the tower was a statue of Meridia.

"If this isn't the resting place of the Marsh Spirit I'm giving up" Areen remarked.

"You and me both" Camri replied. "Come on, Assurrani can't be far behind us"

"It looks like the Daedric shrines found in Morrowind" Ariel said. "They're usually simple structures, literally a corridor leading down to a central atrium where the shrine is located. Or in this case, I hope, the Marsh Spirit"

Camri spied an elliptical doorway at the base of the tower and led the group towards it.

-------------

Shortly after they disappeared into the ruin, Falas Assurrani emerged from the tunnel into the clearing.

"By the Gods…" Assurrani whispered to himself as he beheld the temple, and the colossal statue of Meridia. He became overcome with a sudden sense of déjà vu, and the realisation that he had not been in his homeland of Morrowind for a long time.

Assurrani halted before he entered the ruin, picking up a stick from the ground that had obviously fallen from one of the trees. He took his fire-lighting kit from his belt – a small cloth soaked in naphtha, which he wrapped around one end of the stick, and two flints, which he tapped together until a spark ignited the naphtha. He now had a source of fire – exactly what he needed. His final move was to take one of his arrows and carefully scrape off the silver laminated over the arrowhead with the edge of his sword, exposing the wood underneath.

------------

Camri raced down the corridor and into an enormous hall in the centre of the ruin to be met by two very unexpected sights.

The first was what he identified as a Hist tree, the base of its trunk surrounded by a marble enclosure with a large, square button mounted on it, a blue crystal in its centre.

The second was an elderly Argonian man, sitting in a chair next to the tree, seemingly meaning him no harm.

"Who are you?" Camri called to the Argonian, drawing his sword.

"I am here purely to tell you what the Marsh Spirit does before you choose to activate it"

Camri lowered his sword, noticing Areen gripping a steel dart discreetly, ready to hurl it at the old Argonian. He noticed a red liquid dripping from the dart's shaft. The dart wasn't poisoned to paralyse – it was poisoned to kill.

"Activate it?" Camri asked. "I thought it was a weapon!"

"It is, but not in the conventional sense" the Argonian said. "I imagine you were expecting something along the lines of a magical sword that granted its wielder great power, am I right?"

Camri nodded. "What is it, then?"

"First, I'll tell you exactly who built it. I imagine your trail here was that followed by my two predecessors, the Argonian mages who first planned to use the Marsh Spirit against the Imperial invaders. I imagine you also thought these mages built the Marsh Spirit. They didn't – it was built many ages ago by Meridia herself"

"Hang on, your predecessors? So for years, generation after generation of Argonian has been living in here?"

"That's right. All living in the hope that someone else will stumble across this temple"

"We always believe that every person has a purpose in life, a destiny" Ariel said, stepping alongside Camri. "You are now fulfilling yours"

"That is correct, young Breton. The mages knew about the Marsh Spirit long before they were killed. What they were researching was actually what the Marsh Spirit did. They were obeying one of the fundamental laws of research – before you use any object that involves magic, you find out exactly what it is going to do"

"And what does it do?" Camri asked him.

"Once that button is pressed, if this tree is alive, every other tree in old Argonia will become a sentient being, one that will fight to defend Argonia against whoever might be invading it"

"Old Argonia…" Camri said to himself. "That would include the south of Cyrodiil too"

"Correct" the old man said. "As soon as the Marsh Spirit is activated, the eastern shore of the Niben basically falls to the Argonians"

"I can see why you lot wanted to get your hands on this bad boy" Camri said to Areen.

"Now" the old man said. "You must make an important decision. Are you going to activate the weapon or not?"

Suddenly, from behind the group, an arrow soared through the air. Not just an ordinary arrow – a flaming arrow.

------------

Assurrani hadn't heard the Imperial's entire conversation with the old Argonian, but he had heard one crucial piece of information. The Marsh Spirit would only work if the tree was alive.

So Assurrani had used his preferred method of demolition – a flaming arrow and a bottle of naphtha.

He had lit the arrow from his torch and fired it across the hall. Just as it struck the tree, igniting its upper leaves, Assurrani had dropped his bow, taken the phial of naphtha from his belt and hurled it with all his might at the tree.

The effect was incredible. The bottle smashed as it hit the tree, smothering it in the oily naphtha. Then the flames had ignited the naphtha, causing the entire tree to burst spectacularly into flame.

As he did, the old man gasped in shock.

"If the tree dies, the plague is released…"

"Plague? What plague?" Camri said angrily as he looked around the room, spotting Assurrani.

"It's a security measure… You must leave! Now!"

At that moment, hidden doors swung open all around the hall, and living skeletons began pouring out of them! Assurrani saw this and bolted for the exit, back to the clearing.

"You four, hold them off for as long as you can!" Camri yelled, racing after Assurrani.

Areen and Lunia both drew their weapons, as the four left in the cavern formed into a tight outward-facing circle.

"They won't harm me unless I attack them" the old Argonian said. "I am of no use to you". With that, he left the circle and retreated to a corner of the hall.

"Areen, I need some sort of weapon!" Ariel called to Areen.

"Wait until we've killed some of the skeleton, then use their bones" Areen replied. He was worried – he needed this fight to be over quickly. He had to get to Camri before he killed Assurrani.

The horde of skeletons bore down on the group. Areen lunged forward and swung his mace downward at one of the skeletons, smashing it to pieces. As soon as he had done so, Ariel raised her hands, causing the skeleton's spinal column to leap up into the air. Ariel began manipulating the spine, using it as a whip, while Areen and Lunia bravely stood up to the skeleton hordes with their weapons, attacking as hard as they could to use force to break the undead creatures apart.

Suddenly, Ariel froze where she stood.

"Can you two hold them? I have to get to Camri!" she cried.

"What?" Areen shouted back at her. "Why?"

"There's soldiers coming! Imperials! The Expeditionary Force!"

"Go then! Make sure Camri doesn't kill Assurrani!"

-------------

In the tunnel, the Expeditionary Force had all stopped to rest.

"We really don't have time for this!" Eldred said urgently. The commanding officer of the Expeditionary Force turned to face him.

"If you don't need to rest, recce out the tunnel and make sure it's safe. See if you can find out where it comes out"

Eldred nodded and began racing down the tunnel. They had been in it for what seemed like days. It had to end soon…

------------

Assurrrani burst out of the temple. He knew Camri was right behind him, and extremely pissed off. He drew his sword and turned around, just in time to block Camri launching a powerful swordstroke at him.

Camri backed off. "I don't know why I didn't do this sooner!" he shouted. "Falas Assurrani, you are not going to leave here alive!"

Assurrani stared at Camri, a look of wicked intent in his eyes, before he leapt forward, brandishing his sword. Camri leapt to the side to avoid him, then raced through the arches of the temple out into the open. He was a ranger. He was used to fighting in the open.

As Assurrani began to pursue Camri, Camri drew his bow and quickly fired an arrow at Assurrani. Assurrani dodged the arrow, taking a dagger off his belt and hurling it at Camri. Camri threw up his shield at the last minute, reeling in shock as the dagger thudded through the thin plate steel on his shield and embedded itself in the wood. Camri charged at Assurrani, discarding his bow and drawing his sword again. Assurrani anticipated this and swung his own blade at Camri. Both swords struck each other with tremendous force, sending pain shooting up the arms of both Camri and Assurrani. Assurrani quickly lowered his blade and tried to thrust it into Camri, but Camri leapt to the side, feeling the sword skim his chainmail armour. This was the chance he needed – he punched Assurrani as hard as he could in the side of the head, knocking him to the ground in a daze. Camri leapt on top of him, pinning him to the ground and holding his sword across his throat. It was at this moment that he realised several other things had been happening in the clearing at the same time.

Ariel had emerged from the temple, but instead of intervening in the fight she had run back to the tunnel and held her hands up at a pile of loose boulders above the tunnel entrance. Then, she had brought them crashing down around the tunnel entrance. Just before she had done so, a Dunmer burst out of the tunnel. It was the same man from the cave – the one who Camri had shot.

-------------

Soon, the Expeditionary Force reached the rockslide. They had heard it from in the tunnel, not realising what it was until they had reached the pile of rocks that blocked their way.

"I've seen this method of escape before" the commanding officer said.

"What happened?" one of the other Expeditionary Force men asked.

"Ariel Lassaile happened"

------------

Areen had also come out of the temple a short while after Ariel, with Lunia following him. He emerged just in time to see Camri about to kill Assurrani.

"No!" Areen cried. "Camri, leave him! You cannot kill him!"

Camri looked at Areen, still holding his sword across Assurrani's throat. Ariel, Lunia and Eldred surrounded the three of them.

Areen sighed. "I suppose it's time you knew. You, Assurrani and Ariel are bound together by destiny. Everything has been about bringing the three of you together!"

Camri looked at Assurrani. "If I get up, will you kill me?"

"No, I want to hear about this too" Assurrani said. Ariel walked over to them and took their weapons from them as Areen approached the three of them.

"So an entire war is being waged to make sure the three of us cross paths?" Camri asked him. "It's a set-up?"

"It hasn't so much been set up as manipulated. We knew you'd want to fight against the Empire. The Morag Tong knew that Assurrani would fight for the Empire. And we knew Ariel would have visions that she had to also become part of the fight. Myself, Horunn and Sun, Assurrani's boss at the Morag Tong, were tasked with keeping the three of you alive and making sure you didn't kill each other"

"Let's sit down" Camri said. "This is going to take a while to explain"


	12. Paths

**Chapter 12 – Paths**

"First, who's we? Who are you working for?" Camri asked Areen. "The Empire?"

"No, the Empire itself is only part of it. The Elder Council of Tamriel. It consists of the Emperor, the provincial kings of Morrowind, Skyrim, High Rock, Hammerfell, Black Marsh, Elsweyr, Valenwood and the Summerset Isle. As well as that is Arch-Mage Onstaro, the highest-ranking member of the Tamrielic Guild of Mages, Grandmaster Brevin Iron-Heart of the Guild of Fighters, and Eno Hlaalu, Grandmaster of the Morag Tong"

"And you work for them?"

"Well, for the King of Argonia, yes. Horunn was a representative of Skyrim, Sun is a representative of Morrowind"

"One last question – why? Why are we all being brought together?"

"I don't know" Areen replied honestly. "As the only one of the three guardians present I have to take you to the Elder Council Chambers in the Imperial City. But I must say I'm not happy with that. General Seminus and his men must be within days of launching their attack. I want to go and fight for my nation"

"Everything's starting to make sense now" Assurrani said, looking at Camri. "For the last few hours I've been wondering why you saved my life in Abagarlas"

"We've known since the beginning that we could not harm you" Camri said to him. "It hasn't been easy. And it was Areen and Horunn who broke you out of Fanacasecul, by the way"

"Well, thank you" Assurrani said to Areen.

Ariel spoke up for the first time. "The Expeditionary Force are just behind that rockslide. I doubt it will take them long to find a way past it"

"They're your people, aren't they?" Camri asked, turning to Eldred. "Who are you going to fight for?"

"I may be able to call them off now the Marsh Spirit is destroyed" Eldred said. "If they still attack you, they will be attacking those who have done nothing wrong. In the eyes of the Tribunal that is wrong, so I will join your side"

"Alright, Dunmers" Camri said. "If you're on our team, you need to know my rule. You protect Ariel, then yourself"

Ariel blushed as Camri looked at her, but she knew he was right. She couldn't defend herself against 20 Imperial Expeditionary Force soldiers, especially with no objects to hand to use as weapons.

In the tunnel, the Expeditionary Force men worked quickly. They took several bottles of naphtha and poured them all over the pile of fallen boulders, also leaving a trail of naphtha on the floor leading about 100 yards back down the tunnel. A mage cast a small fireball at the naphtha trail, igniting it. A wall of flame lanced down the tunnel and reached the rock wall, igniting the gallons of the oily liquid and blowing the blockage clean out of the tunnel.

Outside, the six dived for cover as flaming rocks burst out of the tunnel, as a colossal explosion rocked the ground. Eldred leapt up and ran towards the tunnel entrance as four Expeditionary Force soldiers ran out.

"Moravahn. Good to see you" the commanding officer said.

"Our work here is done, Commander" Eldred said. "The Marsh Spirit has been destroyed. We should make for the border and stop Seminus' men doing any damage"

The commanding officer removed his helmet. Assurrani shuddered when he saw the face of the man behind it. He had met him once in passing – it was Commander Odana, General Seminus' right-hand man.

"They're working for Seminus!" Assurrani shouted. "Kill them!"

At that moment, all hell broke loose. Eldred leapt to the ground as arrows pelted across the clearing from all directions – some from Camri, some from Assurrani, and most from the Expeditionary Force, the rest of whom had emerged from the tunnel.

"Get to cover!" Camri shouted. "Eldred, I hate to do this to you…"

Several of the Expeditionary Force men drew swords and began running towards Eldred. Eldred jumped up off the ground and vanished into thin air as he cast an invisibility spell on himself.

At the same time, Ariel, Areen and Lunia were running to the shelter of the temple while Assurrani and Camri kept firing arrows at the advancing Expeditionary Force soldiers. Camri had struck Commander Odana right between the eyes before he'd had chance to put his helmet back on. Assurrani hit another of the soldiers in the chest, the arrow piercing straight through his light armour.

"Camri, draw them back to the temple!" Assurrani called. "I've got a plan!"

"Good, because I haven't" Camri replied as he began backpedalling towards the temple, all the time dodging arrows and firing off his own.

Assurrani dived behind a rock. From where Camri was, he saw Assurrani cast an invisibility spell on himself, but the soldiers wouldn't have seen it. They would simply think he was looking for cover.

"Areen! I'm gonna need you!" Camri shouted back to the temple. The Argonian appeared from behind a rock, brandishing his mace. The path to the temple was a wide trail between two tall rock walls, which the Expeditionary Force men had now reached and were filing down.

"Camri!" Ariel called to him. "Keep them in that passageway!"

She scanned around, seeing the two purple glows betraying Eldred and Assurrani's positions to her climbing up two trees to reach the rocks that lined the trail.

At the same time, Camri and Areen, who had been hiding around the corners of the rock wall, leapt out and instantly killed two of the Expeditionary Force soldiers. Losing no time, they turned to face the next two, Areen knocking one unconscious with his mace, Camri swiftly disarming another by forcing his axe to the ground with his own sword, before plunging his sword through the soldier's chest.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, Camri saw the figures of Assurrani and Eldred materialise on top of the rock wall, Assurrani holding another phial of naphtha and Eldred's hands raised as if to cast a spell.

Assurrani took the lid off the phial then cast its contents through the air. Eldred immediately cast a wave of fire which ignited the naphtha, causing the burning liquid to rain down on the Expeditionary Force men. Drawing their weapons, they leapt down into the carnage and began fighting their way through the soldiers, who were either being burnt alive or panicking and trying to escape.

Soon, silence fell on the clearing.

"How did you know about the naphtha trick?" Eldred asked Assurrani.

"It's a Buoyant Armiger trick, isn't it?" Assurrani replied. "I noticed you glancing at the phials on my belt. That's how I knew you were an Armiger"

Eldred turned so he could see the other four.

"I bring news from the south" Eldred said. "General Seminus still thought Assurrani was working for him, and thought he was going to get the Marsh Spirit. Now he hasn't, he's having to rethink his tactics a bit. He was supposed to attack today. Now he will attack in three days' time"

Camri looked at Areen. "Three days, then"

Areen nodded. "Meet me in the Deer's Leap Inn in Gideon, and we will take arms together"

-----------

That evening, after a long walk through the tunnel and having to dodge the traps in Abagarlas again, the group emerged from Sideways Cave. The night sky was cloudless and glowing with the light of thousands of stars, whilst the two moons burnt brightly above them.

"Camri, I have nowhere to go" Ariel said helplessly. "My home is all the way back in High Rock…"

"I have no home either" Camri replied. "I'd been in prison for who knows how long when all this started, and before that I just lived in camps. You should try one of the inns in the city"

"Are you coming too?"

"No, they don't like me in the cities…"

"I will not sleep in a warm bed in a tavern with the thought of you asleep in a tent somewhere" Ariel said, turning to Camri. "Come on, let's find a campsite"

------------

Later that evening, Camri and Ariel sat at a small fire in an empty camp they had found on the shores of the Rumare. Areen had returned to Argonia, and Eldred and Assurrani had gone with him – they had also decided to help the Argonians fight off the invasion.

"It's just starting to hit me how messed up everything's just become" Camri said. "Areen and Horunn knew each other before we met, Assurrani's on our side now… I mean, do you think we can trust him?"

"I think so" Ariel replied. "He defected as soon as he found out that General Seminus was working against the Empire. He's a Morag Tong agent, so we know that he is loyal to the Empire"

"That may be a problem, because I'm not"

"With respect, Camri, your problem does not seem to be with the Empire, it's with the guard captains and the counts of the cities. I mean, if something like the Oblivion crisis happened again, would you fight for the Empire?"

"I think I would" Camri replied. "And I think you may have inadvertently just predicted the future again, then"

"What do you mean?"

"Remember that cave in Skingrad that the clues in the castle led to? The one my father destroyed? While I was in there I found an ancient scroll, which said something about three people brought together by a big event, to take on something even bigger"

"You think that's us three?"

Camri nodded but said nothing.

"Whatever happens, I hope it's not just the three of us" he said eventually. "I've grown fond of Areen, and Eldred seems to have his head screwed on the right way"

Camri looked up at the cloudless, starry sky.

"It's getting late. We should get some sleep"

"I'm not really tired" Ariel said. "I think it's adrenaline, from everything that's happened today"

Camri smiled and got up, taking a worn-looking shortsword from his belt, a spare that he always carried with him, and handed it to Ariel.

"In that case, I'll teach you how to fight!"

------------

_Blackrose, Black Marsh, the next day_

Through the driving rain, Areen saw Sudana sheltering in one of the guard stations of the palace, waiting for him. Despite the fact that most of it was hidden from view by the rain and fog, Areen never ceased to be amazed by the sight of Blackrose Palace, the heart of Argonia. Four enormous Hist trees grew from each corner of a colossal ziggurat, snaking up the steps to meet in the centre and create an enormous, spiralling tower that vaulted up to an enormous verdant canopy. The ziggurat itself was an architectural marvel even though it was dwarfed by the four Hist trees – it was a colossal stepped pyramid fifteen storeys high, forged from marble and inlaid and bound with lavish gold, glass and ebony decorations.

As Areen approached Sudana, under the watchful eye of two guards, she stepped out of the shelter to greet him.

"You're late, but I understand you've had a very long journey" Sudana said. "The King is waiting for us"

The pair began to climb the broad staircase that led up the ziggurat into the palace. At either side of the stairway were two broad channels down which an orange liquid flowed – Hist sap which literally poured from the four enormous trees.

"Did you manage to get us any help?" Sudana asked as they climbed.

"Camri, Ariel, Assurrani and another Dunmer, Eldred Moravahn, are all coming to our aid" Areen replied. "I told them to meet us in Gideon on the dawn of the day of battle"

"What about the Empire?"

"Useless as always. They don't want to send any men because if they get spotted it will expose the fact that they messed up and couldn't stop Seminus. As far as the citizens of Cyrodiil are concerned, the Third Battalion are still servants of the Empire"

-------------

"It may surprise you to learn that you are the only one left, Areen"

King Jararka of Argonia got up from his throne and walked towards Areen. With Areen was the Steward, Kee-Nara, and Sudana.

"One of whom?" Areen asked.

"The three that were tasked with looking after Camri, Ariel and Falas"

"I know of Horunn" Areen said. "But what happened to Sun?"

"He is presumed dead. The Dark Brotherhood launched a raid on the Morag Tong's headquarters in Vivec. The Morag Tong agents fought off the invaders but suffered heavy casualties. Sun, or his dead body, were never found"

"Sad news indeed"

"Yes. But, nevertheless, you succeeded in your task. Camri, Ariel and Falas dealt with the issue regarding the Marsh Spirit, although not necessarily gaining the result we may have wanted. And they didn't kill each other, and they now know that they are united under one banner. Now, all that remains is the small matter of the Third Battalion"

"Your Highness, my spies have reported back. We know of Seminus' plans" Sudana said. Jararka looked at her expectantly.

"They are essentially using all their resources to capture Gideon. Once Gideon falls to them, they are going to use it as a foothold to attack the other cities"

"Luckily I suspected this" Jararka said. "For the last few weeks we have been strengthening the defences in Gideon and building an advance-warning system that will tell us as soon as the Imperials cross the border into Black Marsh"

"Early warning system?" Areen asked.

"Yes. It functions using water. It's essentially a very long pipe with a tank of water at each end, one end in Gideon and the other by the lookout on the border. The two tanks are full to the brim and connected by a pipe. When the scouts see the Third Battalion, they will push down a lid on their tank which is the same size as the tank itself, forcing water out of the tank in Gideon. It will happen instantly, giving us several hours to prepare for battle"


	13. The Battle of Black Marsh

**Chapter 13 – The Battle of Black Marsh**

_Gideon, Black Marsh_

"_Camri!"_

Camri froze as he heard his name being called by a familiar voice. He turned round and saw two people stepping down from a horse-drawn caravan that had just pulled up outside the city gates. The gates were still open, since Argonian soldiers and labourers were constantly running in and out of the city, building makeshift defences and preparing for battle. Him and Ariel had just arrived in the city.

The two figures walked towards him. It was Eldred and Assurrani.

"Good to see you, Camri" Assurrani said. Next to him, Eldred placed a large leather bag that he had been carrying on the ground and opened it.

"What have you got there, Eldred?" Camri asked.

"Are you familiar with the work of the Buoyant Armigers?" Eldred asked him. Camri shook head.

"I specialise in going into dangerous places to recover artifacts belonging to the Tribunal Temple that have been lost over the years. House Dagoth bases, Dwemer and Daedric ruins, that sort of thing. They're good places to find high-quality weapons and armour, which the Temple keeps. I thought you might want a decent blade to fight with"

Camri peered inside the bag and pulled out a glass longsword, forged from an immaculate ingot of the green crystal, with a handle made from beautifully-decorated silver.

"Thank you very much, Eldred" Camri said. "Does the Temple need this back?"

"I explained our situation and they donated a few weapons to our cause" Eldred replied. "I've got a sword like yours for myself and a Daedric mace for Areen"

"Areen… I should go and find him. I'm already running late"

-------------

Camri and Ariel walked into the Deer's Leap Inn and saw Areen sitting at a table with Sudana and two Argonian soldiers.

"Good to see you" Areen said, standing up to greet them. Camri handed him the Daedric mace that Eldred had give him.

"Here you go, a present from the Tribunal Temple courtesy of Eldred"

"Camri, a group of soldiers is going to take cover out in the jungle and try to ambush the Third Battalion soldiers as they attack. What do you know about guerrilla warfare?"

"I've set up a few ambushes in my time" Camri replied. "I know what to do"

"I could come, and let you know when the Third Battalion are approaching" Ariel said. "Although I won't be much use in the battle. Camri tried to teach me how to use a blade but it didn't exactly come naturally to me"

Camri picked up an almost-empty glass bottle of mead off the table and drank the rest of its contents, then smashed the bottle on the table. He carefully scooped the shards of glass into his coin-purse, now empty after the caravan trip from Leyawiin, and handed it to Ariel.

"Stick to telekinesis, then"

"You've just given me a fantastic idea…" Ariel said. "Areen, can you get me into the armoury?"

"No, but I can go there on your behalf" Areen replied. "What do you need?"

"Daggers, throwing stars, anything you can find that's small and sharp"

Camri smiled and looked at Ariel. "I can see what you're getting at here…"

-------------

_Cyrodiil/Black Marsh border_

General Rakat of the Argonian army approached Camri.

"Mr Everlight, you are the only one here who knows anything about the Imperial Legion. Any idea what we're up against?"

"I'm guessing five hundred men" Camri said. "The First and Second Battalions are both five hundred men, so I don't see why the Third would be any different. Steel armour, fighting with melee weapons and archery"

Deep in the forests of Blackwood, General Rakat was preparing for the incursion by the Second Battalion. They would literally be crossing the border in a matter of hours, from when Rakat would have a further half-hour to organise the second line of defence after the border.

There was an obvious trail through the dense woodlands that would be the obvious route for the Third Battalion to take. However, in the deep grass of the trail Ariel had laid a trap. The daggers and throwing stars that Areen had fetched her from Gideon's armoury had been scattered around the trail, covered by the grass. In a position where Ariel could make every single one of them simultaneously leap up into the air.

-------------

_One hour later_

The soldiers at the border didn't stand a chance. The five hundred-strong Third Battalion simply ploughed through them. Some of the Argonian soldiers stood bravely to face the Third Battallion but most began retreating into the dense forests.

The Argonians had just lost forty men.

The Third Battalion had lost none.

General Rakat scanned the horizon constantly. Then, he saw it. A glowing, white object soaring vertically up towards the sky then bursting in a brilliant white flash of light. It was a light spell, bright but completely silent. There was a chance that the Third Battalion wouldn't know it had been cast.

"The border's fallen!" Rakat shouted. "Take cover! Prepare for battle!"

------------

_Half an hour later_

"Someone's coming!" Ariel whispered. But as she prepared to set off her trap she stopped. "It's not the Third Battalion. It's the soldiers from the border"

General Rakat overheard her and began to creep out of his hiding place in the undergrowth, his sword drawn. He crawled through the dense, long grass until he could see down the trail. A group of Argonian soldiers, around twenty of them, were running towards him.

"Get off the trail!" Rakat called to them. "How far behind you are they?"

"One league, if that" one of the Argonian soldiers said to Rakat. "They're heavily armoured so they're slower than us. We couldn't hold the border for long"

"Don't worry, I knew the border would fall" Rakat replied. "Camri, assemble the archers!"

Camri heard the call. He climbed down from the tree he was hiding in.

"Archers!" he whispered loudly. "Positions!"

He saw Assurrani and a group of Argonian archers emerge from their hiding places, and motioned them onto the trail beyond Ariel's trap.

"Ariel, come on. I feel safer when you're near me"

Ariel got up off the floor and stood next to Camri as he drew his bow and watched the trail. He could see Rakat silently moving groups of soldiers around using hand-signals, so they were surrounding the trapped area of the trail. Rakat's plan was to cause as much damage as possible with the ambush then retreat to Gideon, where the majority of the army was stationed.

"Camri, any ideas who will be in charge?" Assurrani whispered to him.

"Well, we killed Seminus' second-in-command, so probably just a high-ranking soldier. Not a dedicated tactician, that's for sure"

"What about Seminus?" Ariel asked.

"He's a remf, he'll be sitting in his office with a glass of wine waiting for a messenger"

"Remf? What does that mean?"

Camri's face turned slightly red as he turned to face Ariel. "Rear-echelon motherfucker"

"Charming" Ariel laughed.

Suddenly, they began to hear a loud rumble approaching. The sound of hundreds of boots hitting the ground.

"Prepare to fire!" Camri ordered. The archers all loaded arrows into their bows and drew a line of fire. "Fire in a two-part volley! Let's hold them off for as long as we can!"

Ariel cast a spell on herself then fixed her eyes on the horizon.

"What range do you need, Camri?" she asked.

"Five hundred yards" Camri replied.

The next few seconds were the tensest Camri had ever felt in his life. Five hundred heavily-armed soldiers bearing down on his group of lightly-armed guerrilla fighters. But he had one thing they did not – Ariel.

"Five-fifty yards" Ariel whispered.

Camri raised his hand. Half of the archers stepped forwards and aimed. The Third Battalion men were in view now – a surging wall of steel bearing down on them.

"Front row! Fire!" Camri shouted. A volley of arrows soared over his head, over the trap, and slammed into the front line of the Third Battalion soldiers. Several of the arrows pierced through the soldiers' poor-quality, bulk-manufactured steel cuirasses. One unlucky soldier was hit right between the eyes. Immediately, they were thrown into disarray. Orders were shouted. Soldiers began to raise their shields to defend themselves from arrows.

"Back row! Fire!"

The rest of the archers fired as the front row ducked down and reloaded. Arrows once again rained down on the Third Battalion.

"Keep doing that!"

Camri had noticed that the Argonians were all trained as field archers, trained to all fire at once in vaguely the right direction. But himself and Assurrani specialised in well-aimed shots at specific targets.

"Ariel, who's in charge?"

"There. White helmet, on the front line"

Assurrani spotted him first. A soldier in a white ceremonial helmet, wearing visibly higher-quality armour than the other soldiers, leading his men into a charge. Assurrani fired his bow, nailing the officer right between the eyes and killing him before he knew what had happened.

"Damnit, they're charging!" Camri shouted. "Fall back, but keep firing!"

The archers obeyed Camri's orders, backpedalling down the trail while still keeping to the two-part firing order Camri had dictated. General Rakat was clearly in command of some very good soldiers.

Soon, the soldiers passed Ariel's marker – she had carved into one of the trees on the side facing the Argonians, causing sap to drip out of the tree. That particular tree marked the end of the trap.

Ariel held her hands out in front of her then quickly threw them up into the air. The effect was devastating.

A wave of razor-sharp objects burst up out of the grass like lava erupting from a volcano. Ariel had made sure to twist the daggers mid-flight so they were facing upwards. The hundred or so Third Battalion men caught in the trap didn't stand a chance. They were literally cut to ribbons as the daggers and throwing stars, moving at tremendous speed, simply sliced through their armour and ripped their flesh to shreds. Almost in perfect synchronisation, one hundred Third Battalion soldiers fell to the ground, dead.

"Do it again! Take out the next wave!" Camri shouted to Ariel, firing off another arrow.

"I can't! It drained my magicka!"

Camri swore to himself.

"Get off the front lines. Find a tree with green leaves with red veins running through them. Eat as many of the leaves as you can then cast that damn spell again!"

With that, Ariel turned and ran into the forest. Camri drew his sword and turned to Assurrani.

"Come on then, let's see what you can do!"

"Godspeed to you, Camri" Assurrani replied. Camri turned to the archers.

"Aim high, hit the soldiers at the back! I don't want to end up with one of your arrows sticking out of the back of my head!"

Camri and Assurrani charged forward, leaping over the hordes of dead Third Battalion men. Perfectly on cue, Rakat gave a hidden hand-signal. Then all hell broke loose.

From both sides of the trail, Argonian soldiers armed with swords, spears and axes leapt from the undergrowth into the flanks of the Third Battalion. Soon, the Third Battalion were surrounded. Not outnumbered, but surrounded. Rakat had just pulled off a perfect ambush. For a short time, the Battalion was in chaos. The Argonians carved their way through the Battalion's ranks, cutting down the soldiers as the ambush threw them into disarray.

But then, orders were shouted by officers and the Battalion began to regroup. Many Argonian soldiers were cut down by a sudden burst of ferocity from the Battalion.

Camri heard Rakat shout something in a strange, guttural language – the native language of Argonia. He didn't know what it meant, nor did any of the Third Battalion men, but the Argonian soldiers understood. Camri guessed it meant something along the lines of 'Draw them out into the forest', as the Argonians began routing away from the trail into the dense woodland.

Someone caught Camri's eye as he fought off two Third Battalion soldiers.

"Areen!"

Areen turned round in time to duck away from a Third Battalion axe being swung at his head, then he leapt up and slammed his Daedric mace into the soldier's face. He heard the sickening crack of breaking bone as the soldier fell to the ground, a look of horror frozen on his destroyed face.

At this point, Areen noticed Camri and Assurrani. They were standing back-to-back, literally carving their way through Third Battalion soldiers. He knew Camri was good, but not _this _good. He was swiftly ducking the soldiers' attacks, then plunging his sword into them before they could react. Assurrani was doing the same. Most of the soldiers didn't even get chance to attack before a sword was thrust into their chest.

Then, there was the other secret weapon, now coming into play, in the form of Eldred. He had stocked up on naphtha in Gideon and filled a sack of phials with it. Camri saw him out of the corner of his eye, climbing through the canopy until he was almost directly over the large group of Third Battalion soldiers. Then, he took one of the phials of naphtha and lit it with a weak fire spell, then cast it into the soldiers. The fire ignited the naphtha in mid-air, spraying burning oil all over the soldiers.

-------------

Ariel raced down the trail, constantly scanning for the type of tree that Camri had told her about. Then, suddenly, she tripped over something and fell clumsily to the ground, landing roughly on her elbows. She groaned in pain as she got up to see what had tripped her. It looked like a tree root until she looked more closely.

It was a wooden pipe.

The wooden pipe that made up the early-warning system.

Ariel remembered something about the early-warning system from when she had overheard Areen telling Camri about it. When it was activated, it would tell the soldiers in Gideon that the border had fallen. However, if it was activated a second time, it had a different meaning. Send reinforcements.

Ariel still had the sword that Camri had given her, even though it was useless to her until now. She swung it hard downwards at the wooden pipe, splitting it open. Water began to squirt out of the crack in a powerful fountain. Ariel placed her hands over the crack and concentrated. She could almost feel the water in the pipe surging away from her, towards Gideon.

------------

Camri saw Ariel running towards him and Assurrani. He tapped Assurrani on the shoulder.

"You're on your own for a bit, alright?"

Assurrani nodded as he swung his blade horizontally, hewing a soldier's head from his body.

"Ariel, did you find the leaves?" Camri called to Ariel.

"Better than that" Ariel replied. "I called for reinforcements"

"Why?"

"Camri, look. We can win the battle here if we have more men. It's better to fight here than to put the citizens of Gideon in danger"

Camri ran over to one of the Argonian archers, firing his last few arrows high up into the rear ranks of the Third Battalion.

"Soldier, how long will it take reinforcements to get here from Gideon?"

"Twenty minutes, maybe less if they move quickly" the archer replied.

"Right. We've got to hold them off for twenty more minutes before we get some extra help"

------------

Eldred cast another naphtha bottle down into the group of soldiers, killing several of them. Suddenly an arrow slammed into the branch he was sitting on – they had spotted him. Eldred leapt to his feet and jumped from the branch, grabbing hold of a higher one and swinging away from the trail beneath him, as another arrow missed him by inches. Then he noticed they were aiming at the branches that were supporting him. They were trying to bring him down.

Eldred saw no other solution. He let himself fall, landing on one of the soldiers and breaking his neck, then diving for the undergrowth. But as he did, he felt a sharp, searing pain shoot through his shoulder. He had just been shot!

-----------

"Camri! Eldred's down!" Assurrani shouted. He had seen his fellow Dunmer get struck in the collarbone by an arrow and fall to the ground in pain. Then, to his horror, he saw a Third Battalion soldier draw a sword and race towards Eldred.

_Vvvvip!_

An arrow sailed through the air and struck the soldier in the temple, killing him instantly.

"Eldred! Make for cover!" Camri yelled. "Someone cover him!"

Two Argonian archers who had been hiding in the trees near Eldred dropped their bows and leapt down, drawing their melee weapons – a sword and a spear. One soldier raced forward to try and get to Eldred but found himself skewered horribly on the Argonian's spear. The other Argonian helped Eldred to his feet and led him into the forest in search of a healer.

Camri scanned around, looking for Ariel. She was twenty yards or so behind where Camri, Assurrani and some other Argonian soldiers were fighting the dilapidated front line of the Third Battalion.

"Ariel, come here!" Camri called. He drew his sword from a soldier he had just killed and ran towards her.

"What is it?" Ariel asked him.

"How can we stop them retreating?" Camri asked. "If any of these men escape, General Seminus will still have an army"

"We'll have to cut them off from the rear when the reinforcements arrive"

Camri paused for a second. "Go and find General Rakat and tell him what you just told me"

A few minutes later, the reinforcements arrived with a vengeance. Fifty elite Argonian soldiers, who Rakat had wanted to keep back in Gideon to do as much damage as possible there, had come to the front lines. As soon as Camri saw them, he ordered Assurrani and the Argonian soldiers fighting with them to feign retreat and clear the trail. As they leapt into the undergrowth, the Third Battalion advanced, and were met by fifty arrows, all fired at once, slamming into their ranks and causing absolute devastation. That narrowed the Third Battalion down to thirty men, if that.

Then, Rakat gathered as many soldiers as he could find and burst out of the undergrowth all around them. They were totally surrounded.

One soldier who was clearly an officer, with a ceremonial headdress on his helmet, dropped his sword.

"We surrender"

Camri gasped in amazement at what had just been achieved. The Argonians, outnumbered 5 to 1, either lightly armoured or not armoured at all, had defeated the Third Battalion.

"By the Gods, we did it!" Camri said to himself. Ariel ran up to him and threw her arms around him.

"No, Camri, you did it"

Camri held Ariel tightly. "You know when you told me that you think the three of us fight best when we are near each other?"

"Yes?"

"I think you were right"


	14. No Distance Left To Run

**Chapter 14 – No Distance Left To Run**

_The Grand Council Chambers, The Imperial Palace_

Four people walked into the Grand Council Chambers under armed guard to be greeted with the sight of the most powerful people in Tamriel all gathered in one place. Eldred Moravahn was not with the group – as he was not part of the Elder Council's plan he had been forbidden to enter.

Camri recognised two of them – Emperor Namiah Carius and Major-General Cassius Sinclair, the man in charge of the Imperial Legion.

Areen recognised King Jararka, King of Argonia.

Assurrani and Eldred recognised King Gavel Indoril, King of Morrowind.

Ariel saw Aurelia Thierry, Queen of High Rock.

Also present were King Penald of Daggerfall, Duke Jesper the White of Skyrim, King Ri'Shazzar of Elsweyr, Queen Calaminde of the Summerset Isle and Aldaroth, Steward of Valenwood – the kings, queens, dukes and stewards who ruled over the provinces of Tamriel. Also in the room were Baurus, Grandmaster of the Blades, Arch-Mage Onstaro of the Guild of Mages and Brevin Iron-Heart of the Guild of Fighters.

But Assurrani noticed that there was no representative of the Morag Tong.

"You are wondering where Eno and Sun are" King Indoril said, looking into Assurrani's eyes. "You must know of the Dark Brotherhood raid on our headquarters. Eno Hlaalu was killed in the raid. After bravely fighting off many Dark Brotherhood agents he finally died of poisoning from wounds sustained by the Dark Brotherhood's poisoned daggers. Sun, however, was never found, dead or alive. Maybe he escaped. We still hold out hope"

Emperor Carius stood up.

"Camri Everlight, Ariel Lassaile and Falas Assurrani. May I present to you the Elder Council of Tamriel.

The three bowed then stood up again.

"Firstly, congratulations. You have averted a major social and economical disaster, not to mention saved countless lives. I'm sure you were aware of the implications of what would have happened had you not succeeded"

"With respect, Emperor" Camri said. "Before we begin the shoulder-patting I've got questions"

"Of course" the Emperor said. "Well, what do you want to know?"

"Why and how. Why were we selected? Why did we go through all this? And how did you choose us three"

"I can answer your last question easily" the Emperor replied. "You must be aware of the Three Disciplines – combat, magic and stealth. Between the three of you, you excel at all the Disciplines"

Camri shook his head. "This is pointless"

With that, he turned round and walked briskly out of the room.

"Camri!" Ariel cried, running out after him. Areen followed her.

Assurrani watched, then turned back to face the Elder Council.

"Please continue, Emperor"

"We gathered the three of you because we need you to take on a new threat. Do not think that this whole thing was engineered so the three of you might cross paths – it was not. We knew that something was going on, possibly involving General Seminus and Argonia, so we seized the opportunity. We told Eno Hlaalu to make sure it was you who was sent to Cyrodiil to aid Seminus. We told King Jararka to get Camri on the Argonians' side. And we knew that Ariel would get involved.

"Make no mistake, you are here because you're the best. Eno told me that you were the best assassin he had ever encountered. Camri is an expert swordsman and marksman, a skilled tactician and a brave man. And Ariel's talents are too many to list"

The Emperor smiled. It was a good thing the other three had left. Assurrani was the only one who didn't know certain things. The Prophecy. That made explaining things much easier. Explaining to a Dunmer that they were part of a prophecy was never a good idea, particularly if the Tribunal Temple got wind of it.

"So, what's this new threat?" Assurrani asked.

"Something you will hopefully be very familiar with"

"Assassinating?"

"Not exactly…"

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Camri placed his hands on the back of his neck, looked up at the sky and exhaled a deep breath.

"Camri, are you alright?"

Camri turned round to face Ariel.

"That man is not an Emperor, he's a crowd-pleaser" Camri spat. "Did you hear the way he spoke? Sorry, I just can't stand people like that. And he was talking bollocks"

"What do you mean?"

"There was no 'selection'. It's a prophecy. You know it. I know it"

"You're right. They can't have known about our talents increasing when we're near each other because we'd never encountered each other"

"Exactly. I'm going to listen to the Emperor when he starts telling the truth. Even I know more about this bloody prophecy than he does, and I'm not exactly a mythology expert"

Ariel smiled at him. "You've worked out the thing about Meridia too"

"What, about the cave being right next to the Meridia shrine at Skingrad? That scroll was in there specifically so we would find it? Yeah, I knew that all along but I didn't think anything of it until I saw all the statues of her. I quite like the thought that we're part of a divine plan conjured up by Meridia"

At that moment, they noticed Assurrani walking out of the building, looking extremely pissed off.

"You OK?" Camri called to him.

"He got to me as well" Assurrani replied. "He's convinced not to tell me why we're here. He says 'his men need to gather more information'"

"His men?" Ariel asked.

"Spies? The Expeditionary Force? Scholars? It could be anyone" Camri said. "I suppose we'll just have to wait and see"

To be continued….

_Epilogue_

_Twenty years later, Echo Cave, northern Cyrodiil_

The two Expeditionary Force men walked slowly through the cave, illuminating its passages with their torches. Since the cave had become so notorious for harbouring evil, the Emperor had ordered frequent sweeps of it to ensure no undesirable parties had taken up residence there. They had reached Mannimarco's chamber, the innermost part of the cave. And they had found nothing.

"Hey, what's that?" one of the men said suddenly, pointing at a black object lying on the floor. It was covered in dust, but even through the dust the ebony glittered under the glow of their torches. It was a sword.

The Expeditionary Force man picked it up and wiped the dust off it. Something was inscribed on the handle.

The letters A.K.S.

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Read on for some hints as to what's coming up... (spoilers!)

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The great event of the Prophecy is revealed!

Sun and General Seminus are back!

Ariel falls for Camri!

Two major bad guys from Morrowind and Oblivion make their return!

There is an Ariel flashback!

It is revealed how Camri ended up in prison!

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Stay tuned... Ny Batteri


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